


Infractum

by Ratikait



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Cunnilingus, Explicit Language, F/M, M/M, Multi, Porn With Plot, Ritual Sex, Rough Sex, Spanking, Threesome, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2020-07-09 00:35:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19878688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ratikait/pseuds/Ratikait
Summary: The explicit eighth chapter is now available to read!The Cardinal has nurtured a most beloved member of the Ministry and intends to harvest the luscious fruit. His Unholiness interrupts with a clandestine visit, bringing prophetic tidings. It seems the Lord Below weaves a tapestry that none save He can fathom.





	1. Chapter 1

The soft scuff of shoes against marble and the rustling of light cotton skirts were the only sounds in the chapel as a group of the Ministry's sisters approached the communion table.

"Body of Christ," the clergyman declared as he placed the Eucharist upon the tongue of the first woman queuing before him.

"I devour and desecrate," she replied and together they spoke the closing, "Nema."

The twelve women behind her followed routinely and made their way from the chapel. In order of descending age they received unholy communion. Some accepted it quickly, a chore to be got over. Others gazed up longingly from beneath glossy lashes to the clergyman, wanton and suggestive.

For his part, he was passive, revealing neither censure nor encouragement to his parishioners. Eventually, the last of the group ascended the steps and presented herself with a bright smile. She had newly been made a novitiate of the church, having been a student of the religious academy prior to her admittance.

Her master poorly suppressed a smile in return and raised the wafer to her lips.

“Body of Christ,” he repeated.

Her wide eyes beamed up at him in happiness as she accepted his offering. It was her first unholy communion following her change in status, and her excitement was palpable.

“I devour and desecrate.” She gave a small nod as they joined in, “Nema.” She moved swiftly to fall in line behind her elders.

The smile he had repressed began to spread over the Cardinal's face and altered into an expression altogether insidious. He gazed after the youngest sister as he slid a wafer between his lips.

"I devour."

———

The most junior member of the sisters was commonly given the most distasteful tasks. It was no exception in the case of Lara, or Sister Lucia, as the Cardinal had styled her. After her first week, her new title remained slow to impress upon her, and the elder sisters often shouted it before her attention piqued.

It was shouted again as she folded mounds of laundry in the basement. She looked up to see Sister Dominus trying to get her attention.

Sister Lucia bowed her head.

"Forgive me, sister. I am not used to my name," she said quietly.

"It took me a few months to get my mind around it," Sister Dominus admitted as she laid a comforting hand on Lucia's shoulder. "I will continue here, Mother Perfidia wants you to finish washing the sheets."

Dominus flashed her an expression of pity. Mother Perfidia liked the sheets washed in a vat by hand. They often required bleaching and then they were individually hung out to dry. It was the most time consuming and laborious of all daily chores. Perfect for the most junior member.

Lucia grinned and made her way as cheerfully as she could muster to the washroom where the sheets awaited. It was not a mountain of work, but she would likely be late to that night's dinner.

She began filling the vat with water and shifting the sheets in with a wooden paddle. The water was hot on her hands, leaving them red, and when they had the opportunity to dry, they cracked. Her grip on the stirring paddle was strained because while some areas of her palms had calloused, others had not. She scattered the bleach over the laundry and felt some of it mix with water and seep into the cracks on her hands.

Lucia gazed at her hand, wondering at the origin of the pain. Which scratch in her skin was the culprit? Within seconds, the sting subsided. She continued her chores inside until the time came to hang the sheets out.

It was a breezy, temperate day and she was pleased that at least this task afforded her time out of doors. She hung the largest items first, shaking pillowcases back into her basket. With five sheets tacked up, she knelt down for another.

As she pulled it free from her basket a great red shadow enveloped her from behind. It loomed long before her and she turned quickly around in surprise.

"Your Eminence," she sighed in relief, "A pleasure to see you, as always. To what do I owe the honor?"

A low chuckle escaped him.

"Why Sister Lucia, I visit to see how the newest member of the Ministry gets on in her duties. It is hard work, but you do not seem deterred."

"No, I am happy to be useful," she told him and brushed a few golden hairs back from her face. She realized she had removed her veil in the heat and she snatched it up again.

The Cardinal bent and stayed her hands.

"It is not required to wear your veil in my presence or at all. The other sisters wear theirs in the spirit of unholy mockery, but this does not suit you."

Lucia's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't want to stand out."

"Our Dark Father is the annihilator of conformity," he replied, squeezing her hands gently. "In his honor, I encourage you to cast it away."

She let the veil slip from her fingers and onto the ground. The Cardinal cast a gloved hand over her hair. It was a light, approving gesture. The hand that still held Lucia's caressed the dry, raw skin he found there.

The leather of his gloves was soft and she comforted in his presence.

"I must continue my rounds, Sister Lucia. Perhaps after dinner, you will visit with me in my office and we will discuss your first week in the sisterhood, yes?" He closed both of his hands around hers once more.

Lucia's face lit up in ecstacy. "Yes, Eminence. If you would have time for me, I would be ever so grateful."

He gave her head a small pat and then entered the cathedral. The Cardinal paused and turned back once he was inside. Half-concealed at the doorway, he observed Sister Lucia.

She picked up her veil and stuffed it into her apron pocket. Then she continued her task while humming a cheerful tune.

The Cardinal was often struck by whatever twist of fate had brought her to his Ministry's door. It was not often that newborns were left on the steps of a church of Satan. So many a parishioner came to the church out of desperation or rebellion, but Lara had been brought up in Satan's teachings. Over eighteen years had passed since Mother Perfidia found her on their doorstep.

Lara was a living testament of Lucifer's compassion and acceptance toward humanity. Always quick with a smile and a kind word, the light of the Morning Star shone bright within her. It was exceptionally easy to style her as Sister Lucia during her novitiation ceremony. She was not a reckless sinner, nor did she steep herself in the darker aspects of her faith.

During her matriculation ritual from the academy, she had hesitated when sacrificing a dove. Hidden from view, the Cardinal had placed his hand over hers on the athamé and completed the deed for her. He then applied the blood of the bird to her bare chest in the shape of a pentagram. The ritual was concluded by the graduates performing a dance beneath the midnight bloodmoon.

Lara was the only student to join the church following her completed studies. She had told the Cardinal of her decision when she came to thank him privately for assisting with her sacrifice. This daughter of Lucifer, whom he had seen rise from babe to maturity, revealed her concerns about her devotion. She was candid and pure.

He listened to her fears, preparing words to assuage them. Yet whenever his eyes fell on her he recalled his fingers drawing across her breastbone. He felt the rush of warm blood from the dove coating their intertwined fingers. Her gaze of unbridled admiration once she realized what he had done for her. The white flesh of her body under a red moon. Perfect as if cast in porcelain by the Old One himself.

The Cardinal drew himself out of his reverie. He was still concealed just inside the doorway, watching Sister Lucia hang bedding. He drew an exasperated hand over his face and continued on with his daily rounds.

———

Sister Lucia finished her tasks outside and gathered up her basket. Sister Dominus was rolling in a cart of linens to be washed.

"From the Cardinal's room. Take extra care with these," Dominus said with a wink and breezed by to continue her own work.

The fabric was a vibrant blood red damask. It would need to be cared for separately from the remainder of linens. Lucia gathered the fabric up and immediately the scent of sweat and sex permeated her senses. It was followed by the wood and bergamot scent of the Cardinal himself. She swiftly dropped the items in the vat. A pillowcase was left at the bottom of the cart and she found it only smelled of him. Lucia stroked the delicate fabric for a few moments before tossing it in as well.

She wondered momentarily who had assisted the Cardinal in dirtying the sheets, but it could have been anyone in the clergy. For all she knew it was everyone in the clergy.

"Do as thou wilt," she had been told since before she could recall. Her will had not yet driven her toward physical pleasures. The other students had taken rampant interest in random sexual encounters and clandestinely arranged orgies. Though she had often attended such outings, she had not participated.

She had first communed with Lucifer to request his guidance and he had explained that her limbs would grow strong and bear exquisite fruit… however she would need to be patient. He had added that purity was a sweet perfume, which would draw to her in the fullness of time a most deviant consort. After awakening from her communion dream, she longed to tell her roommate. Telltale creaking of the bed across the room told her it was not the time to interrupt.

Without moving, Lara had shifted her eyes curiously toward her roommate's bed. Light reflected off of the mask of a ghoul in the moonlight. The hollow darkness of his eyes stared directly toward her as his hips bucked wildly into the girl beneath him. She had turned sharply away, holding a small gasp inside with a hand over her mouth.

When they had finished, Lara heard footsteps approaching her bed. With her eyes clamped shut in mock sleep, she felt hair being lifted away from her neck. Cool metal rested against her throat and she heard a heavy intake of breath. A moment passed then a warm and wet pressure flicked from the base of her throat to beneath her jaw. When she turned to strike at him, he was gone.

The following morning, she had asked her roommate which ghoul she had been with, in the hope of avoiding him. Her roommate, ever the dedicated sinner, could not remember.

Sister Lucia recalled these events as she worked the Cardinal's sheets into a lather. When she rinsed them, the water never quite ran clear.

She managed to complete her duties fifteen minutes before the dinner bell was due to ring, and rushed to the showers to rinse herself of sweat and soiled sheets. Her blonde hair was damp wet when she returned to her room to change. She instinctively pulled a veil from her chest of drawers and only stopped herself as it touched her head.

The Cardinal's words about conformity resounded in her mind. He was so kind to her. Ever her teacher and shepherd. A father and friendly companion. In the time before his ascension, Lara frequently sought him out. Three years had passed since he had become a Cardinal, and during those years Lara saw him less and less because of his new duties. It saddened her, but she appreciated the time she was able to spend with him all the more for it.

The veil was put away and she brushed out her hair before heading to dinner.

Her sisters quickly noticed her lack of veil and flashed appraising smiles at one another. Sister Lucia sat beside Sister Dominus and bowed her head.

"Are you forgetting something?" Dominus asked her softly.

Sister Lucia's eyes flicked over to her. She swallowed and said more confidently than she felt, "I've decided not to wear it."

Sister Dominus gave an exaggerated glance down the table of thirteen sisters.

"We all wear them in blasphemous mockery…" Dominus began.

"Lucifer is the annihilator of conformity," Sister Lucia countered before she could stop herself. "I choose not to conform and wish for the support of my sisters." Her last phrase was louder than her first and while some sisters scoffed, others looked on with admiration.

Murmured conversation continued throughout the dining hall.

Dominus gave a small, proud grin to her companion. "This may be the only rebellious act I've ever seen from you." She stroked a lock of Lucia's hair. "I don't know if the greater sin is to flaunt this beauty… or hide it."

Lucia's cheeks grew pink and she stared down toward her lap.

A clatter from the front of the room and the creaking of hinges signaled that the Cardinal was entering. Everyone stood until he recited a short prayer to the Dark Lord and took his seat. The meal was then laid out before them. Lucia counted herself lucky that it was the brothers of the clergy's night to prepare dinner. On the sister's nights she was always one of the six on duty, no matter how difficult her prior tasks.

She chatted distractedly with Sister Dominus, and found she could eat but little. Her glass of red wine sat barely touched. Every so often, she would glance toward the Cardinal. The few times he matched her gaze, he nodded minutely in recognition. Dinner dragged and she found herself evermore in need of speaking with His Eminence. The work, no matter how daunting, had done nothing to lower her spirit. However, she had other doubts.

When the Cardinal was finished, he rose and retreated through the large wooden door that separated his sacristy and office from the rest of the church. Lucia waited for a few others to leave before excusing herself as "too tired to be any fun."

She exited the dining hall and walked around to the public entrance to the Cardinal's office. Her knuckles softly rapped the door.

After a pause, she heard him call, "A few minutes, child. I have received an urgent message."

Lucia perched on the bench just outside his office and picked at her nails. She closed her eyes for only a few moments and relaxed. When she opened them again she discovered two empty sockets peering directly at her, meer inches away.

She shot up from her seat and the ghoul followed in perfect sync. Slowly, he continued to stand to his full height and towered over her.

"Be about your business," she told him firmly.

He leaned closer and brought a hand toward her face. His head tilted curiously and his fingers touched her cheek. Her jaw clenched as he drew his thumb gently across her bottom lip.

Lucia put a stiff hand against his chest and harshly repeated, "Be about your business." If her actions had any effect, she saw no indication of it.

Suddenly the Cardinal's door opened and he surveyed the pair outside his office. His vestments were removed and he was wearing a white suit.

"Feeling homesick?" The Cardinal asked as he placed his hand on the ghoul's outstretched forearm. "You'll be hurtling into the Pit faster than thought or time if you're not out of my sight this instant."

The ghoul scrambled back immediately  
and took off down the hallway, glancing back as he turned the corner.

"Thank you, Your Eminence. He was trying to give me a fright. You know how they can be." Lucia tried to smile, but conjured only a nervous laugh.

"A nuisance, the lot of them. But useful when it serves," he replied. "Come in, sister. Stay awhile and talk with me."

She entered his office and quickly sat in a plush chair opposite his desk. The room was richly decorated in fine antiques whose purpose she could only guess at. Instruments that she recognized, but did not know the names of lined the walls. Perhaps one day she would ask him.

The Cardinal took his seat and crossed his hands neatly in his lap.

"How does our ingénue fare in her new role?" He wondered, crossing a leg over his knee.

Lucia's mouth opened to answer, but nothing came out. Neither words nor breath passed her lips for several moments until she emitted a heavy sigh.

The Cardinal leaned forward in concern. "Have the sister's been unkind to you? Mistreated you?" He questioned.

Lucia shook her head. Heat radiated from her face and she hid herself in her hands.

Gloved fingers gingerly peeled one hand away and she saw the Cardinal sitting on the corner of his desk, holding her hand.

"Daughter of Sin, reveal your worries, and we'll conquer them together."

"I am…" She began and paused. "I have doubt inside me."

"Doubt is the first step toward wisdom. Without it, we would be sheep," he reasoned.

"Yes, but I have doubts that I can fulfill my duties." She clutched his hand tightly, feeling slightly stronger in his presence.

The Cardinal sighed. "Is this about the sacrifice at your matriculation ritual?"

"In part, but I have also been doubting my place in the Dark Father's plan. Other sisters seem to have so easily come by their devotions to sin. Sister Dominus told me that Lucifer visited her in a dream when she was thirteen and asked her to revel in the pleasures of the flesh. Mother Perfidia was visited at twelve and He instructed her to reign vengeance on all those she saw deserving. They say those were the only times they communed with him."

He nodded. "It is usual that He calls His children to Him in adolescence and never again. Others are visited a few times."

Lucia grew quiet and looked away from him.

"What is it?" He breathed, and drew her chin up so that she stared at him.

"He has communed with me several nights a week for the last three years. I haven't told you because I've been worried there is something wrong with me." Her voice shook as she told him.

The Cardinal mask of benevolence faltered into a frown. "What did you say?"

"One night, three years ago, I reached out to Him and He appeared in my dreams. I asked Him why I was not like the others and He instructed me to be patient. The next night He came again and showed me strange things," she paused to collect herself and ran her fingers through her hair.

The Cardinal longed to run his fingers along the same path. He swallowed and nodded.

"What strange things?"

"Horrible things. A dark chapel I've never seen and a child—an infant being sacrificed on an altar. There are two figures in darkness on either side of the child, but I can never see their faces. He stands beside me and stares at the baby being eviscerated. It is not His way to harm children, but He shows me this often, sometimes multiple times a week. There are others, but not as frequent." Frustrated tears threatened to trickle from her eyes.

"I feel that He is trying to teach me something and after all this time, I'm too stupid to understand." Lucia's palm slammed down on her knee desperately. She willed herself not to cry. "What if He grows weary and abandons me? My faith must be weak." She whispered, a tear finally escaping down her cheek.

The Cardinal sank to his knees before her and placed her face in his hands. "He will never abandon you. He is all patience and persistence. Until the end of days, He will be beside you and within you. As for his portents, there is infinite interpretation and the patience He has charged you with will reveal your answers."

Lucia rested her hands over his. "For all this wait, I wish I had something to hold on to." Her eyes closed and she settled into his touch.

His chest was against her knees and he drew in a sharp, shaking breath. He continued to stroke her face, unwilling to relinquish his hold. Her skin was pale and flawless, her lips cherubic and rosy. Lascivious and artful ideas began to weave in his mind. Suddenly, his hands stilled.

"The Dark Father has entrusted me with a gift for you," the Cardinal said softly.

Warm, wide eyes flashed open at him.

"He hasn't," Lucia answered, disbelieving.  
"Not for someone as simple as me."

The Cardinal nodded, his face reassuring.

"It seemed a mistake when He made the request, but now you are here, seeking out His embrace and it is clear to me," he began, knitting lies as quickly as they fell from his lips.

Trust flooded back into the eyes of the young woman before him.

"You're certain?" She asked. He heard tones of hope in her little question.

"Yes, entirely so. It was obscene to have considered it before He visited me, but now I understand His intentions," he lied marvellously.

Her chapped, yet dainty hands clutched his own in desperation. "What is this gift, and don't say more patience," she joked without mirth.

"Our Father, the Most Infernal Tempter, has charged me with bestowing upon you His Dark Kiss."

Lucia's breathing stopped altogether. Her grip on his hands loosened and her eyes shifted to the floor. The Cardinal caressed her face gently.

"It is not what you expected?" He asked.

Green eyes full of apprehension glanced up at him, the very picture of innocence.

"More than I expected. I'm unworthy." She shook her head.

"The Dark Lord believes that you are, as do I." He grinned at her. "It will not be like any kiss you received from a boy at the academy."

Lucia's face flushed crimson. Her fingers smoothed over her lips.

"I've never had any kisses, Your Eminence," she admitted.

His gloved hand came to rest on her lips, so delicate a touch it nearly tickled. The Cardinal's face grew serious and his hand moved to firmly cradle her jaw.

"The Kiss of the Most Lascivious is not intended for these lips," he whispered as he brought his mouth within a hair's breadth of hers. His unoccupied hand stroked from her knee to inner thigh. He bowed over her and moved to speak wickedly into her ear, "It is a craven, lustful gift that I must give you on my knees."

Rapid little breaths fluttered out of the young woman beneath him and her fingers held fast to the hand resting at the inside of her thigh.

"It is only your gift if you accept it, my child of sin," he assured her.

Lucia brushed her cheek against his, she felt his breath hot in her ear. He was still, waiting for her to spring the trap.

"You honor me and I…" she choked out.

He pressed his lips against her ear and near wordlessly panted, "Let me worship you."

A small gasp escaped her and he felt her nod.

"Yes?"

A soft, bashful sound of consent came out of her.

"Good, good," the Cardinal chuckled in delight as he sank backward onto his knees. His right hand reached for her ankle and languidly traced upward beneath her habit. The fabric gathered and revealed lily white stockings. He began folding her skirt up passed her knees, passed her thighs.

When her garters came into view, he thought he might come undone. He pulled at them playfully, smiling up at her.

She returned a weak smile of her own, but did not trust herself to speak. She trembled before him.

A sharp gasp suddenly rang out from her as he took the elastic of the garter between his teeth and snapped it at her. He then placed a gentle kiss on the offended skin.

He took hold of her hips and firmly pulled her toward him in her seat. She laid her forearm over her eyes.

"Look at me, you must bear witness, yes?" He instructed, nodding.

She obeyed and nodded.

"My obedient child," he praised and kissed the inside of her thigh. "Brightest Light of the Morning Star," he muttered and kissed the other.

Then his mouth was over her, exhaling fevered breath through the fabric there. Her back arched instantly and her hand flew to cover her eyes. He heaved another breath and had to prevent her from slipping out of her seat completely.

"Look at me!" He ordered dangerously and she complied immediately. She stared into his all at once maddened and jarring eyes. He reached into the jacket of his white suit and produced a small stiletto. He drew it carefully beneath the fabric covering her and with two swift slashes it fell away.

A shameless exclamation of joy and lust rolled forth from his throat. He pointed the knife up at her and knew he had her undivided attention.

"Do you touch yourself, little one?" He asked, his voice dark.

She nodded once.

"What is in your thoughts when you do?" He tapped the tip of the blade on her garter belt. "Do not lie to your Cardinal, hmm?"

"The rituals I've attended," she managed to whimper. "Watching others during…"

"Watching them fuck each other," he finished for her.

She nodded once again.

"Yes? Good." He returned the stiletto to his jacket absently. "Well, I think after this night, when you are in your bed and reach down between your legs for pleasure… you will only think of me."

He jerked her closer again and her calves laid against his back. Her right hand desperately sought his left and they laced tightly together. His other arm held her securely in place. Without breaking her gaze, he brought his lips against her heat in the guise of a chaste kiss.

Lucia's head fell back before she remembered to look at him. He remained in the same position, mouth closed and unmoving until she began to shift toward him. She didn't know quite what to expect, but she was certain she wanted it. Her wariness waned and a warm, beating pulse of want surged in its place.

Could he sense the fire that she felt deep down? She wondered.

Then his tongue stroked fluidly from the base of her slit upward toward her sweetest spot.

She nearly screamed. The hand that was gripping the arm of the chair moved to fist in his hair. The one entwined with the Cardinal's flexed wildly. He felt her heels dug into his back.

He shifted his shoulders and her thighs parted further for him. Again he smoothed his tongue over her slick, delicate skin. He felt her every muscle tremble with the slow and measured strokes he laved against her. Lithe hips bucked at him and the grip in his hair tightened.

A wicked growl rose out of him, rumbling against her. He drew her bundle of nerves between his lips and beat the tip of his tongue against it in a merciless rhythm.

"Oh… fuck…" she breathed as her pleasure mounted and tension knit low in her stomach.

With a tender flick of his nose against her swollen bud he removed his mouth from her. He pulled his lower lip between his teeth and made a display of savoring the wetness he found there.

The hand in his hair smoothed over his cheek in supplication.

"Please… please… " she cried helplessly.

"Child."

He kissed her inner thigh lightly.

"Sister."

He added another kiss.

"Bride of sin."

He lapped at her deftly once and she keened.

"Such pure lust from such a delicate creature. A glutton for a tongue-fucking. Yes?" He questioned.

The Cardinal's hand slid from her grip and he traced it over the lace belt across her stomach.

"Yes, Eminence. I'm a sinner, a glutton. I want to feel you. I want to feel good," she replied in an intoxicating rasp.

Her legs writhed over his back and shoulders.

"How good? Tell me what you want. Ask for it, Lara," he instructed.

His use of her real name tore away the last of her reservations.

"I want you to fuck me with your mouth until I cum so hard I forget my name."

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped in surprise. He was not sure he had ever heard a phrase as beautiful and decadent. His hips rolled forward, providing nothing but a realization that he was achingly erect.

"Thy will be done."

He was instantly upon her once more. His mouth was opened wide over her cunt as he thrust his tongue as deeply into her as he was able. She sank her fingers deep into the hair on either side of his head and crushed him ever closer. He grunted and continued undeterred.

After a few moments of this he shifted to brush his tongue leisurely over her clit. Again and again Lucia recognized the erratic but mounting sensation that brought her closer to bliss. Her hips moved more insistently against him and his torturous pace began to increase.

"Ah… I can feel it," she cried, "I'm so fucking close…"

The Cardinal stared up at her from his place between her legs and nodded. A rapt moan vibrated against her and he began pounding his tongue frantically into the underside of her clit.

He pressed her down with a hand on her stomach as she began to shake and cry out to him.

Her eyes clenched shut as she felt her body careening toward orgasm.

"Fuck, I'm close…" she hissed through gritted teeth.

He snapped her garter and her eyes shot open. She met his gaze and suddenly she was there. She came in glorious waves, the pleasure infinitely more intense than any she had served herself. Her cunt pulsed and her cries grew breathy and choked with desire.

The Cardinal continued as her body involuntarily jerked against him. He felt the tremors within her, and was quick to imagine feeling them around his cock. Her strangled little exclamations spurred him on.

Lucia's body descended from its peak and yet the Cardinal did not stop his attentions. She keenly felt the almost painfully sensitive flesh as it was wildly assaulted.

"Please, it's too much," she whimpered and attempted to pull him away.

He tore one of her hands from his hair and held it firmly aloft. She tightened her free hand in his hair as hard as she could as the sensitivity grew into a white hot pain.

Then she was crashing from an aftershock of orgasm she hadn't realized was coming. The pain turned into absolute perfection. She wailed and fell limp into the chair. Her grip relaxed and fell from the Cardinal's hair as the last remnants of release faded.

The Cardinal massaged his scalp where she had clung to him. Hair pulling was a prickling pain he had enjoyed on several occasions.

Lucia kept her eyes closed and panted with her head tilted toward the ceiling. Her legs shifted from his shoulders to the ground on either side. The Cardinal followed the rise and fall of her breast with his eyes as she collected herself. Would he have the pleasure of drawing his fingers across that delicate skin once more?

He reached for her waist and gently maneuvered her forward.

"Come here to me," he said. It was more of a soft request than an order.

She drifted down to him, her face flushed with more than satisfaction. Her knees were firmly planted on either side of his thighs. It was clear that embarrassment or shame was welling up inside her as she stared down at the embroidery on his jacket.

"Do you know what I regret about what I've just done?" He asked her very sternly.

Lucia somehow shrunk more into herself.

"No, Your Eminence," she whimpered.

"That I should've been doing it every night since the bloodmoon ritual," he admitted. His hands found her hips and he moved himself upward against her. "Lucifer has bestowed so much of his love onto you. There was something of the witch about you that night, and it has been with you since then. You have taunted me in the most deviant dreams." He bucked upward again and took her face in both hands.

She finally looked up at him and curled her fingers into his jacket.

"Imagine your Cardinal fucking his hand like a school boy for the past three months while thinking of you."

She inhaled sharply at his admittance.

He started to grind against her in a slow rhythm. Her heat pressed against him through the fabric and the friction was able to have him fully hard in moments.

"I have coveted you, little sister. Longed for you," he revealed and pulled her close against his chest. Lucia's head rested under his chin.

The Cardinal felt a tentative hand moving down between them. In the most tender manner she could, Lucia stroked him with her hand.

"That is one of the powers the Tempter created inside you," he rasped.

Lucia glanced up and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You can turn a man into a beast," he growled and gripped her fiercely. His thrusts became brutal and erratic.

She threw her arms around his neck and held tight.

"I wanted to fuck you in that field," he rasped into her ear. "In front of the entire congregation while they danced. Would you have let me, little one?"

She drew back and gazed into his eyes. His pace slowed as she traced his face with her fingertips.

"Yes. Until the morning swallowed the moon. But no more nonsense about gifts from Lucifer. Do you really think I'm that gullible?"

He shook his head. "No, but it set the mood quite well. Now will you let me have you, Lara?"

Her fingers rested on his lips after the question left them.

"Yes, Giac. Now," she answered and moved up to kiss him.

The office phone rang shrilly through the tense atmosphere and the Cardinal glared in its direction. Lucia dropped her forehead against his chest and bit her lip to hold in a chuckle.

"It'll be over in a moment," he assured her.

It rang five times and fell silent.

"Where were we?" He asked as she moved to kiss him again. "Ah, ye-"

The phone rang anew.

"LUCIFER, FUCK!" The Cardinal shouted in frustration. He shuffled backward and still on his knees, reached across the desk to pick up the receiver.

"Yes?" He asked immediately in an authoritative tone that did not belie his annoyance.

Lucia watched him nod as the other party spoke.

"I did, and what of it?" He continued.

Whatever he heard next drained all color from his face. He pulled himself up to his feet and steadied himself on the desk. His free hand covered his mouth and drew down to hold his chin. This look of defeat surely did not portend good news.

"And you are certain that you heard this correctly?" He asked and listened to the response. "No, don't make yourself known. Continue as if they had never left, I don't want you drawing suspicion. You've done well, I must go and make arrangements."

He held the receiver above the hook and let it fall with a clang.

"Fuck…" he huffed and began scanning the room desperately.

"Eminence, what's happened?" Lucia wondered, finally rising from the floor.

"Forgive me. This interlude will need to be postponed. It seems that His Unholiness is on his way to visit us now."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papa Emeritus III arrives and brings with him mirth and mischief.

"I feel like a fool, but I must ask you to go to Mother Perfidia at once and tell her the news. Tell her that I have asked her to prepare rooms in the abbey for Sister Imperator and the ghouls who travel with him. Have the guest rooms in the rectory readied for His Unholiness and spare nothing. He has always disliked me and I won't give him the satisfaction of claiming I was unprepared to receive him,” the Cardinal growled and paced the width of his desk.

“How could he dislike you, Eminence? He elevated you,” Sister Lucia wondered.

“No, that was one of Emeritus II’s last acts, it only went into effect after he relinquished his Unholy title.” He flipped through a small leather ledger on his desk. “I’ll need to write something to welcome him. Send a ghoul back to my office if you cross paths on the way to Mother Perfidia,” he instructed.

“As you wish, Eminence.” Sister Lucia nodded and opened the door to leave.

“You will think of me tonight, won’t you, Lara?” He questioned softly as she made to pull the door shut.

Lara peaked back at him with her bottom lip between her teeth. “I will, Giac.”

Then she was gone, sprinting down the corridor in search of Mother Perfidia. She nearly collided with a small willowy ghoul as she rounded the stairs up to the third floor. Her eyes lit up as she steadied her hands on his shoulders.

“Please, you must go to the Cardinal’s office at once, he is in urgent need of you,” she explained.

The ghoul nodded and bounded down the steps three at a time. Sister Lucia continued her sprint upward and raced through the dormitories. She discovered Mother Perfidia inspecting the inventory of remaining black mass candles.

“I beg your pardon, Mother Perfidia, but there is news from the Cardinal that you must hear at once,” she interrupted the older woman sheepishly.

Mother Perfidia’s face grew grave and she nodded for the younger sister to continue.

“His Unholiness intends to visit us presently and could arrive tonight. Sister Imperator and a retinue of ghouls travel with him. The Cardinal has requested that rooms be prepared here and in his rectory,” Sister Lucia finished with a curt bow of her head.

Mother Perfidia allowed a moment of frustration to pass before she looked to the sister to her left, Sister Invidia, and began reciting a list of tasks that would need to be completed in preparation for the Anti-pope. Invidia jotted down her every word and was then hurrying off to dispense the duties to the rest of the Ministry.

“Sister Lucia, you clean the chapel and prepare for mass, take another sister. Fresh hangings, flowers, candles, and goblets. Polish everything in sight, and do not forget to lay out Papa Emeritus III’s sigil banner instead of the Cardinal’s,” Mother Perfidia ordered.

Sister Lucia bowed again and turned.

“One additional request,” Mother Perfidia cleared her throat and waited for Lucia to turn back.

“Yes, anything,” Lucia assured her.

“You are a very new member of the Ministry and while I am proud of your progress and dedication, perhaps His Unholiness and Sister Imperator would find fault with the things which you have not yet learned. They are of a strict disposition in regards to tradition and His Unholiness does not favor our Cardinal. It may be for the best if you… keep to yourself. I will find tasks to occupy your time away from any gatherings.” 

Lucia’s stomach plummeted at Mother Perfidia’s words. Was she... ashamed of her?

“May I attend meals?” She wondered numbly.

“Of course, but you will not be serving,” Mother Perfidia clarified.

“I understand,” Lucia lied. She bowed once more and left swiftly. She attempted to shift her mind back to the Cardinal, but a pang of inadequacy throbbed in her heart. She found Sister Dominus and they gathered supplies for the chapel.

Lucia dragged a mop bucket toward the altar and began slopping the mop around in no particular pattern.

“Am I allowed to ask what crawled up your ass?” Dominus asked suddenly and whipped a dusting cloth at Lucia.

“Mother Perfidia said I’m not allowed to attend any gatherings while His Unholiness is here.”

Dominus’ brow rose. “That’s ridiculous, you’re our little prodigy, she’ll be dying to show you off.”

Lucia shook her head. “She said there are too many things I haven’t learned yet and that she doesn’t want me embarrassing the Cardinal.”

“That’s… odd,” Dominus said slowly. “She was just telling Invidia and me how well you’ve done here, like you’ve always been among us.” 

Dominus tapped her finger on the top of the broom she was holding.

"There has to be another reason, but I'll be saved if I know what it is."

Lucia shrugged, at least someone agreed with her on the injustice of it all.

"Maybe it's a test of my obedience?" She offered. "Who knows?"

A figure passing by the chapel caught her eye. She ran down the aisle to catch him and called out down the hallway after him, "Excuse me, would you kindly help wash the stained glass in the chapel? Please, if you're not scheduled another task?"

The ghoul turned and nodded. It was the massive one who had frightened her earlier. She backed up as he stalked toward her, and scurried ahead of him back to the chapel where Sister Dominus waited. The ghoul immediately began washing the windows, any attempts at mischief were apparently abandoned.

They continued cleaning and arranging the ceremonial space to Mother Perfidia's instructions.

When Lucia pulled out Papa Emeritus III's sigil banner, a burst of dust exploded around her. It had been a long time since the third Emeritus brother's last visit. She shook it free and lightly drew a cloth across the embroidery. It was shimmering ebony velvet carefully stitched with golden and burgundy thread. 

It bore his motto "Abundat dulcibus vitiis" which Lucia understood to mean "He abounds with alluring fruits." She had heard a rumor in the academy that when Papa Emeritus III first came into his priesthood he had trouble deciding between that and "Columna excelsa" or "The Lofty Pillar." Additional rumors about the future Anti-pope's proclivities seemed to support such a claim.

She brought the sigil to the altar and carefully placed it beside the Cardinal's banner. "Per angusta in augusta," his motto read is silver and scarlet needlework.

"Through difficulties to greatness," she whispered as she took up the Cardinal's sigil and draped it carefully over her arm. Even in his absence, his sagely chosen motto was able to comfort her.

She dusted the shelf that was to store the banner and folded it neatly before resting it beside the sigils of the other two Emeritus brothers. When she turned away, the massive ghoul was standing only a few steps away.

"You must be finished, yes?" She asked.

He nodded and moved closer until his chest nearly touched hers.

"Do you delight in frightening me?" She prodded him.

His head shook violently and he looked down at his bulky limbs. It was as if he silently asked, Is this form frightening? He hopped back and shook his head again. He crossed his arms in front of his chest in an X and emphasized the gesture a few times.

"Prrro…" she heard him growling under his mask.

"I'll understand you," she assured him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Prrrotego," he finally managed. It was apparent he was not a singing ghoul.

"Protect me?" Sister Lucia sighed, exasperated. "You don't need to protect me, you need to get yourself ready for Papa's arrival."

The widening of the ghoul's eyes and tremors that tore through him told her these were the wrong words to have chosen. He lunged forward and grabbed her forearms.

“Cum Papa non tutum!” He howled and shook her. Lucia cried out and struggled against him, and Sister Dominus was upon him in an instant. The older sister smacked at him uselessly before bringing out a small vial and tossing Holy Water over his hands. He recoiled immediately but did not retreat from the chapel.

“Why wouldn’t I be safe with Papa?” She asked the momentarily injured ghoul. His hands healed as she watched.

The ghoul fell to his knees and took her hand gently. He bowed his head and whimpered, “Et faciet vos sacrificium.”

“Make her a sacrifice? Don’t be ridiculous, there haven’t been human sacrifices in the Ministry for decades, despite the rumors,” Dominus chastised him. “Get up and go find somewhere else to make mischief before I pour the rest of this bottle down your throat for scaring our newest sister this way!”

Hesitantly, the ghoul stood and bowed to them before removing himself from the chapel.

“I think he believed what he was saying,” Lucia admitted.

“The last thing we need when His Unholiness is visiting is a mad ghoul. I’ll tell Mother Perfidia to keep an eye on him.” Dominus rubbed her arm in comfort. “With our low recruitment numbers, I’m sure Papa won’t off you,” she joked and tugged on Lucia’s sleeve.

“Sisters!” A voice called from the chapel entrance. Mother Perfidia stood just inside and beckoned them to her.

They obeyed and awaited further direction.

“You’ve done well here, everything in its place. Surveillance tells me His Unholiness is nearly to the first gate onto the grounds. Sister Dominus, you will follow me down to await him out front. Sister Lucia, you may return to your room for the night.” 

Perfidia and Dominus left her standing in the archway to the chapel. Dominus turned back with an apologetic look, a piteous expression that she was growing tired of seeing. She trudged to her small room and changed into her nightgown immediately. After lighting a candle, she shut off the lights and sat at the window. At the very least she could see Papa’s arrival, even if she could not be present with the rest of the Ministry. Indeed, every other member was present outside in the courtyard. The Cardinal was a beacon is his red cassock.

A few minutes passed and midnight drew nearer. Lucia had never seen the third Emeritus brother, only the second. He had visited during his papacy while she had been in the academy. Aside from receiving unholy communion from him three days in a row, she struggled to remember him. She had feared him up close, she recalled. His gaze was full of Satan’s fire and rage. It had lingered too long and bore too deep.

As the clock struck midnight, Lucia heard the sound of tires crunching over gravel. A large black SUV approached and was adorned with flags bearing the Grucifix. It pulled around next to the throng in the courtyard and the Cardinal rushed forward to open the door for his guests.

\---

They were gathered together in the night, waiting for him. Emeritus seethed and shot a glare at Sister Imperator. Had the old witch ruined his surprise? He had intended to raise a little Hell for Copia, not attend a late night garden party. Recovering from his disappointment, he smoothed out his chasuble and straightened his posture.

As the SUV drew nearer, Emeritus breathed carefully to gather himself. When they stopped, he watched Copia approach the door.

"Devious little shit-" he grit out through his teeth as the door was opened.

"Ciao, dearest Cardinal, ciao!" He exclaimed as the Cardinal bowed to him.

"Benvenuto, Most Unholy Father." Copia swept his arm toward the assembled clergy. "We are at your service."

Emeritus stepped out and took his mitre from a ghoul within. He placed it dramatically upon his head as he surveyed the crowd. In a wave, they all sunk down on one knee. He stared down at Copia beside him and proffered his hand. Copia kissed his papal ring and a smile of satisfaction spread over Emeritus' lips. He did not have the element of surprise, but he comforted in the knowledge that Copia would forever be beneath him.

Sister Imperator exited next and grinned at the Cardinal, an expression that belied nothing. He kissed her hand as well and waited for Papa to relieve him.

"Rise, everyone, rise. I thank you for your warm welcome." He motioned for them to stand and walked passed the line of clergy members slowly. "Cardinal, I was loathe to disturb your church in the middle of the night, or I would have sent notice. I did not want to trouble you, but it seems you have gone through much trouble and forced it upon your flock as well."

While those lined up before him attempted to keep their eyes averted, few could prevent themselves from stealing glances up at him. He recognized a few members, but not by name. A head of fine dark curls spurred his memory and he waited for the sister’s curiosity to get the better of her. When her dark eyes met his, he remembered.

“Sister Dominus, a pleasure to see an old friend,” Emeritus confided lowly. They had fucked before he rose to papacy at… an event for… someone, he recalled. He’d spent the night trying to catch her away from Mother Perfidia. In the end, it had been worth it, because he distinctly remembered she was a blessedly depraved soul. She'd made him beg like an animal, and he wondered if his pride would still allow for such an encounter. Perhaps he would have to find out. 

He winked and moved on to Mother Perfidia.

"Dearest Mother Perfidia, heartsblood of our church," he exclaimed and clasped her hands between his own. "Lucifer blesses you with eternal youth it seems."

"And afflicts you with blindness," she retorted with a laugh.

Emeritus chuckled and leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek.

"You must be tired, you must follow the Cardinal to his rectory and we will see you tomorrow." Mother Perfidia waved to Sister Imperator, "Unholy Sister, I will show you and the ghoul's to your quarters, if you follow me."

"Yes, yes. Goodnight, mamma," Emeritus obeyed. He looked to Copia and saw him staring up at a dimly lit window of the abbey. He spied a pair of eyes peeking over the window sill.

"Mother Perfidia, is something the matter with Sister Lucia?" Copia implored, his voice flippant.

"She was extremely unwell after dinner, went straight to bed," Perfidia boldly lied.

Copia raised an eyebrow at her deceit, but merely bid her goodnight and led Papa and the ghouls carrying his belongings to his home.

"The sister in her warm bed might be the wisest of us all," Emeritus joked.

"She is unwell," the Cardinal reiterated.

"Or she realized how foolish it is to stand around in the dark and cold waiting for an old man to climb out of a car." A sneer spread across the Anti-Pope's features, ready for a sputtering defense from Copia.

The Cardinal bit his tongue. If they hadn't been waiting, he would have been an unwelcoming prick. There was no way to win and so he wouldn't be baited. When no retort was forthcoming, Emeritus grew quiet. It used to be so easy to get a rise out of Copia, he had always been eager to defend himself from the smallest slight. Now he was calm and dismissive of his jabs.

Through a copse of oak trees stood the Cardinal's small rectory. It was well built, but not grand.

"Very quaint, Copia. A humble little abode seems to suit you," Emeritus patronized.

A ghoul held the door as they entered and Emeritus' froze when he viewed the interior. It was decadence personified. Burgundy and black walls ornamented in fine golden mouldings. Doorways with archways carved with intricate designs of the most devious of sins. Paintings of beheadings and lovers and fallen angels lined the walls. Standing gilt candelabras emanated a warm glow throughout the home. Lush carpets spread over intricately patterned wooden floors.

"I hope it is to your liking, Your Unholiness. My home is your home." Copia sauntered over to a large dinner table to the left of the entrance and made a flourish toward a bottle of wine and two glasses that rested upon it. "I thought you might enjoy a glass of something restorative after your journey, Unholy Father."

Was Copia trying to appease him or fuck him? Emeritus wondered. A minuscule part of him admitted that he was on his way to succeeding in both.

"My thoughtful Cardinal, I would enjoy it very much," he admitted.

He saw that for the first time, Copia was disarmed. The Cardinal poured a glass for Emeritus and presented it to him and then readied one for himself. Emeritus removed his mitre and placed it reverently on the table before taking a sip.

"This is deviously smooth, Copia," he praised. A pinot noir to be sure, without a cloying sweetness.

"It is a favorite, but a secret at our abbey," Copia revealed, taking a long swig.

Emeritus cocked an eyebrow and shifted closer, holding out his glass for a toast.

"You would withhold knowledge from your Papa?" He teased.

"I would leave it a mystery that you might solve at your pleasure," Copia replied, as smooth as the wine on his tongue.

"To pleasure then," Emeritus toasted.

Copia touched his glass delicately to the Anti-Pope's. "To pleasure."

\---

Sister Lucia was able to get a better look at Papa Emeritus III during breakfast the following morning. The night had almost entirely obscured him from her view. He had greeted them kindly and said a quick prayer before taking his seat. He was not as fearsome as his elder brother, but there was an intimidating force that seemed to reach out from him. His skullpaint was softer and pristinely applied. She saw him laugh with Mother Perfidia, something she was not sure Emeritus II was capable of.

She was not worried about being caught staring, because every head in attendance was directed at His Unholiness. He carried on conversations at the head table as if he noticed nothing.

When a few other sisters finished, she left with them. Even if she didn't understand Mother Perfidia's reasons, she would obey her. The other sisters entered the chapel, excited to get pews close to the front for Papa's mass that would follow breakfast. Lucia wandered to the administration office, where she was instructed to address envelopes for an upcoming ritual. She sighed and grabbed a quill and ink pots. Calligraphy work was satisfying, but tedious.

After finishing a few dozen envelopes, she heard applause and cheers of exultation from down the hall. Her heart ached at having been left out.

"No!" She cried when she saw the side of her hand had smudged the lettering she was currently working on. She tossed it into the bin and heard the rest of the clergy filing into the halls. The sounds of others slowly dissipated and Lucia continued her task.

Hours passed and eventually Mother Perfidia arrived to check in.

"Beautiful work, Sister Lucia. You've gotten through more than I expected. You must take a break for lunch now," Perfidia instructed.

Lucia nodded. "Thank you, Mother. I would have forgotten."

She closed up her ink pot and dried the nib of her quill. She considered asking if she could attend evening mass if she sat in the back row, but decided to keep quiet. Mother Perfidia did not appreciate defiance.

They entered the dining hall and Lucia quickly sat beside Sister Dominus.

"Oh, I'm so sorry you missed it," Dominus began, "I've never seen so much passion from anyone in the Ministry. He embraced everyone in the chapel without moving from the altar. I could feel Lucifer reaching out through his words."

Lucia spied Dominus' thighs shifting together.

"It sounds like quite the mass," Lucia offered, not knowing what else to say in her disappointment.

"I've been wet since it ended," Dominus whispered. "I remember every inch of him and it's driving me insane."

"Ask for confession when he arrives for lunch," Lucia laughed.

"Maybe I can catch him afterwards or make it to the first pew for evening mass. He gave me a "let's fuck" wink last night." Dominus groaned. "You know that empty feeling inside where you just need to sit on a cock?"

Lucia sputtered and shook her head.

"Well, when you get to be my age, you will," Dominus assured her.

"You're 25-" Lucia began before Papa, Imperator, the Cardinal, and Perfidia appeared from the high table's separate entrance.

Papa said another brief prayer and wished everyone a fruitful day ahead.

Sister Dominus took to staring at him. Lucia chanced a glance toward the Cardinal, who she found was staring directly at her. He looked concerned, almost worried.

She smiled at him, and brought her fingers up in the smallest wave imaginable. His lips turned up in a smile and he hesitantly shifted his eyes from hers to respond to something Papa was saying.

During this silent exchange, the mischief about to take place directly behind Lucia in the center aisle went entirely unnoticed.

Sister Invidia made her way toward the high table carrying a serving tray laden with a crystal decanter of red wine. A ghoul from Papa's retinue snaked his tail around her ankle and pulled sharply backward as it grew taught.

For an instant, it looked as if she were flying. The stopper shot out of the decanter and wine burst across the entire center aisle, some of it reaching the table cloth at the high table. The decanter shattered across the floor as Invidia continued to descend. Her hands struck the ground and crystal first as she turned her face away from the danger. She shrieked once, but held in the rest of her pain. Already, she had been dishonored before the Unholy Father, she did not want to appear weak as well.

Lucia was helping her up immediately. She wiped her apron down Invidia's dress, dislodging any shards.

"Nothing on your face, let's see your hands," Lucia whispered, becoming aware that the room was silent and all eyes were on them.

Blood was pooling and embedded crystal shards caught the light as Invidia opened her fingers.

"We'll go now and take care of this, it will be all right," Lucia promised.

Invidia motioned her head toward one of Papa's ghouls who was strangely the only one not looking their way.

"He tripped me with his tail," she sobbed quietly.

Lucia looked to Sister Dominus, who roused another sister and they began cleaning the aisle.

"We will tell the Cardinal and he will see to it that the little wretch goes back to the Pit, but right now, we have to take care of your wounds."

They rushed from the dining hall and Lucia maneuvered them toward the small infirmary. She heard footsteps behind them and found Mother Perfidia rushing toward them.

"Poor dear, I saw that little bastard of a ghoul smirking. He'll have his comeuppance." Perfidia laid a comforting hand on Invidia's cheek.

"Indeed he will," another voice chimed in. Sister Imperator had somehow made her way to them in silence. "It was disgraceful. Harming another, disrespecting our hosts. He's finished, my dear, I can assure you of that."

Invidia nodded.

"Perfidia, why don't you care for your injured sister? I will have this kind, young sister here attend me. I would like to return to my rooms to consider this ghoul's punishment." Sister Imperator placed a hand on Lucia's elbow.

Mother Perfidia grew pale. "Are you certain? Sister Lucia can see to these wounds."

"Quite certain," Imperator answered with an air of finality. She continued to her rooms, arm linked with Lucia's.

"You didn't let an instant pass before you went to help her," Imperator stated suddenly. "Everyone stared like open mouthed imbeciles, but you were caring for her hands before half the room realized what had happened. That is devotion and sisterhood."

"Thank you, sister," Lucia managed to say. Was Sister Imperator, right hand of Papa Nihil, praising her?

"So many of our churches are full of sisters constantly engaged in cat fights. It's refreshing," Imperator admitted as they entered her set of rooms.

"Tell me, what would you do with the ghoul who caused the trouble?" Her elder asked, sitting heavily in a desk chair.

"I would recommend that His Unholiness unsummon him back to Hell for a time. That he might realize the laxity of his life here is preferable to constant servitude in the Pit," Lucia replied. Anxiety grew in her stomach as she watched Imperator consider this.

Imperator grinned. "The exact punishment I had envisioned."

Lucia sighed in relief.

"Tell me, do you enjoy your life in the church?" Imperator questioned further.

"Well, I am new to being a member of the Ministry. This was my first week, but I was raised in the church's orphanage and academy. It is my home, and I do love it very much." Lucia tried not to fidget under Imperator's severe gaze.

"What do you think of your Cardinal?"

Lucia swallowed. "I… He is most beloved by everyone in the church. His teachings are approachable and honest. I knew I wanted to join the Ministry because of his presentation of the Dark Lord's gifts. As a child, he was a shepherd for me when I did not belong to anyone. He promised that I would belong to Lucifer, and be embraced by him my whole life long. When I had no family, he gave me the Dark Father and I will be eternally grateful."

Imperator's lips grew into a thin line. She had revealed too much, or answered poorly.

"That is very good to hear, Sister Lucia. We have very high hopes for Cardinal Copia. He will do many great things for the Ministry. He will rise. This praise from a junior member is most promising. You must be right out of the academy?" She wondered.

"Yes, I matriculated in the spring."

"So young," Imperator sighed and stood in front of her. Her piercing stare bore into Lucia's eyes. "Such beautiful eyes." Imperator stroked her cheek lightly a few times. "So innocent." Tears began welling in Imperator's eyes and she removed her hand.

"Thank you for indulging me," Imperator said, back to her severe tone. "Take care, Sister Lucia."

Lucia gave a small curtsey. "You are always welcome, Sister Imperator."

Outside the door, she took a few careful steps around the corner before breaking out into a run. She had to tell the Cardinal what Imperator had revealed to her. "High hopes?" "Great plans?"

She whisked by several ghouls and barreled down the corridor to his office. She burst in, out of breath.

"Cardinal… I must tell you… Sister Imperator…" She stood up and saw Papa Emeritus III staring at her from behind the Cardinal's desk.

"Dear sister, whatever is the matter?" She turned toward his voice and saw the Cardinal standing near the fireplace.

She froze, not wanting to look like a snitch in front of Papa.

"Yes, sister. It must be something important about Sister Imperator for you to be so distressed," Emeritus added. He stood from his chair.

"She…" Lucia shuffled closer to the Cardinal. "She has not said it, but I fear she is displeased with her rooms. I think they are too small and not befitting her. I would like to request permission to have her moved to a larger suite tomorrow morning." She squinted at him, hoping it was enough signal to convey that this was not what she meant to tell him.

"Very thoughtful of you. Later, we can discuss the ideal place for her." He squinted back. "Until then, His Unholiness and I have much to discuss."

"A diversion from work is always welcome," Emeritus countered. "Especially a lovely diversion like this one," he added.

Emeritus drifted around the desk toward her and she dropped down on one knee, head bowed.

"Forgive me for interrupting, Most Unholy Father," she pleaded.

"Rise child, you were only doing your duty. Though you need not be so worried about Imperator's comfort. She should be content that I allowed her to accompany me. A shed with a cot would be enough for her if I had my say." After a moment, Papa laughed. "A bad joke, bella."

It did not seem like he was kidding.

When Lucia rose, he circled her.

"You were unwell last night, yes? I did not see you among the others." She kept her eyes down as he spoke to her.

"Yes, Unholiness. Very unwell," she answered.

"And now…" a soft glove stole under her chin and brought her gaze up to look at him. "... the very picture of health. Bright eyes, rosy cheeks."

While he was not as fearsome as his brother, his eyes stared too long into hers. They bore in deep enough to make her want to squirm.

"You're not keeping her hidden away like your wine, are you Copia?" Emeritus teased. "Fair little creature like this, you look as if you'd tumbled out of Heaven."

"Sister Lucia is our newest novitiate," the Cardinal interjected. "She is a wonderful scholar and historian, as well as being deft with Latin. Lucifer's presence has been strong with her since infancy when Mother Perfidia discovered her on the steps of the church."

"A foundling?" Emeritus asked quietly.

Lucia nodded.

"I sense the loneliness of your childhood, I find it in your eyes. But our Dark Father, he filled that emptiness. He made you whole, didn't he?" Emeritus spoke softly, soothingly.

"He did, Unholy Father," she replied. The need to squirm under his stare disappeared and she began feeling waves of comfort and understanding. Lucifer was inside him, emanating from him.

Emeritus sensed the pride that Copia felt for this sister. There was dread wafting from him as he watched from the fireplace.

Lucia stiffened as Papa leaned into her.

"I could fill that emptiness," he breathed into her ear. "I could sate you with sins you've never imagined."

She knew the Cardinal watched and she willed herself to pull away, but whatever spell Papa weaved was too strong. Her eyes fluttered and she felt a throb between her legs.

Suddenly the Cardinal was pulling her roughly by the arm and toward the door.

"Mother Perfidia will be looking for you, and I'm certain you have many duties to finish before evening mass," he said hurriedly, ushering her out before she could say a word. She heard the latch turn as he closed the door.

"You're no fun at all, Copia," Emeritus seethed before returning to the desk chair.

"There is Ministry work to be settled. I save frivolity for the night," Copia responded, sounding more calm than he felt. He wanted to strike him.

"Fair enough." Emeritus put up his hands in a peaceful gesture.

They spoke of the forthcoming ritual, deciding who would be given the high honor of reciting specific rites. Papa Nihil, among the two of them would oversee the lion's share, but two other clergymen would be needed. They eventually settled on reaching out to Cardinal Atrox from Hungary and Cardinal Fovea from Belgium.

"Copia," Emeritus began as they finished the matter, "I had hoped to entertain a guest tonight, if it would not displease you."

The Cardinal lifted an eyebrow. 

"Do as thou wilt, Unholiness. Who is this guest?"

A coquettish smile appeared on Emeritus' face.

"Well, I have enjoyed Sister Dominus' company before and find myself interested in doing so again," Emeritus admitted.

"Sister Dominus is a beautiful woman," the Cardinal added absently. He gathered his ledger from the desk and bound it tightly with its leather cord.

"Perhaps I lie, Copia. I did wish to see Dominus again, but then…" he paused and tapped a finger against his lips. "But then I see Sister Lucia-"

Whatever Emeritus said for the next few moments did not register to the Cardinal. He felt a roiling anger in his chest and his jaw clenched so tight it deafened him.

"-but I think I like the idea of Lucia begging on her knees more," he heard Emeritus finish abruptly.

The Cardinal exhaled one massive breath and sat back down in the chair across from Emeritus.

"I have never asked you for any favors. Now I am asking you, as a man and your servant, Marcelo – Please, do not touch Sister Lucia," the Cardinal pleaded with all of the power he possessed.

Emeritus' brows knit in concern and his mouth opened in surprise.

"You care so much for her?" Emeritus asked.

"Yes, she has always been special to me."

Emeritus leaned toward him.

"Then of course, your favor is granted. But mind you…" Emeritus gripped Copia's hand like a vice. "I could have you excommunicated for calling me familiar without permission to do so."

"Forgive me, Unholy Father!" The Cardinal choked out in pain.

Emeritus relented.

"You are forgiven. Now leave me until evening mass," Emeritus ordered, flicking his hands in a shooing gesture.

Copia scurried from the room, leaving his personal ledger behind. Emeritus turned the book in his hands before opening it and tearing out a blank page. He did a quick study of the documents on the desk bearing Copia's signature and handwriting and began drafting a message.

"Dearest Sister Lucia," it began.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emeritus III believes that he is moving his pawns into place.

After being forcibly removed from the Cardinal's office, Sister Lucia dreaded her next encounter with him. There was something unnatural in what she had felt while His Unholiness spoke to her. Surely the Cardinal knew that. She shook them from her thoughts the best she could and returned to the administration office to continue addressing letters.

As she worked, she considered how poorly she had done following Mother Perfidia's orders. Her encounters with Imperator and Papa Emeritus III were not intentional, but perhaps she should have done more to remove herself from both situations. Would she be punished? She wondered.

Would Mother Perfidia ask the Cardinal to punish her? The thought excited her more than it should. She imagined him beneath the desk as she scrawled calligraphy across hundreds of envelopes. The writing becoming less and less coherent as he fucked her with his tongue. Lucia invented more scenarios as she whisked through her work.

"He's angry with me," she suddenly whispered to herself. "I'm being so foolish."

Sister Lucia focused on her task for a few more hours until the bells rang 5pm. Others would be preparing for evening mass, but she tidied her tools and went back to her room.

She immediately caught sight of a paper on the center of her bed that had not been there when she left. When she picked it up, she recognized it as a folded page from the Cardinal's ledger. She bit her lip in excitement and anxiety as she read the short message.

"Dearest Sister Lucia,

Forgive my impatience earlier and dine with me tonight in my home. 7:00pm. There is a gift for you on the back of your door. Wear it tonight, should it please you.

CC"

She turned back to her door and saw a brilliant white gown that fell in translucent chiffon waves. Her fingertips danced over its silken surface. With a glance around the room for straggling messengers, she held the message to her breast and began toeing off her mary janes. 

In moments she was nude, and pulling the gown over her head carefully. One set of straps held it up at her shoulders, while another set fell dramatically down her upper arms. The bodice was a deep V and the skirt fell straight downward, simple yet elegant. It seemed to her somewhere between a wedding dress and a vintage nightgown.

It was the finest item of clothing she had ever worn. She swished the skirt back and forth, then twirled. It was prime for twirling.

Had he chosen this for her? She smoothed her hands reverently down the front of the gown and reread the message. It would be two hours before he expected her and she had never felt more impatient. The Cardinal would be readying himself for evening mass, but she had nothing to occupy her time.

Lucia looked in the small mirror on her bedside table and suspected that most women would wear makeup to a dinner with a man they admired. She did not own cosmetics, and had rarely worn any. Borrowing a few things from another sister crossed her mind, but she didn't have faith in her application skills.

"He will accept me as I am," she chided herself.

With a smoothing of the fabric behind her thighs, Lucia sat back on her bed. Her hand fell heavily over her heart.

"Dark Father, please let him accept me…"

\---

Papa Emeritus III and Cardinal Copia prepared for mass within the sacristy off of the chapel. 

Emeritus lowered his chasuble over his body and then delicately secured the mitre atop his head. He slipped on a pair of black leather gloves and turned toward Copia.

The Cardinal was buttoning his red cassock in front of a full length, gilt mirror when Emeritus stepped behind him. He wore an expression of contemplation.

"I am too hard on you," Emeritus said flatly to Copia's reflection.

Copia's fingers froze mid-movement.

"I torment you, because I know you are strong. But I would not bait you so often if I hated you as much as you seem to think I do."

Copia nodded, dumbfounded. Emeritus' arms snaked under Copia's and his fingers gently continued buttoning the cassock.

"Tonight, I have decided that we shall have a private dinner in your rectory. Something decadent, and we can entertain each other… if you like," Emeritus added. The last three words were intended to make the dinner sound optional, but it clearly was not.

Once the cassock was secure, Emeritus ran his hand over Copia's chest.

"You look resplendent, Copia," Emeritus rasped as he leaned into the other man. Copia's form grew tense as they stared at each other in the mirror. The Anti-Pope's hand remained at the top of Copia's fascia sash.

Black and white lips were nearly touching his ear when Emeritus continued, "I have brought you such stress, made you so strained. You cannot go before your congregation in this state."

Emeritus' hand that Copia could not see began massaging into his left shoulder. It was light through the fabric, but it was pleasant enough.

"Let me make amends and calm your nerves," Emeritus sighed.

The hand atop the sash reached down and firmly pressed against Copia's groin.

Copia jerked forward in shock, catching himself against the mirror with one hand and trying to push Emeritus' hand away with the other.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Copia managed to choke out when he spun to face his superior.

Emeritus stepped in close, daring Copia to move with his body language, while his face remained placid.

"Your Papa is offering his most sincere apology for having disturbed you," Emeritus said softly. The tone was honey-filled. "Do you reject my offering?"

Copia heaved a sigh and rested his head back against the mirror. He cringed at the thought of consenting to Papa, but he knew the consequences of refusal would be infinitely worse.

While he was appalled by the advance, the most depraved recesses of him were curious. Marcelo had always been a man with a certain allure. He clenched his teeth together before answering.

"Of course I accept your apology, Your Unholiness," he whispered. "I accept your offering."

Emeritus smiled wide and took Copia's hand. He lead him forward a few steps and turned him toward the mirror. With warning, Emeritus dropped to his knees, fanning his chasuble out around him. His hands were hurriedly stealing up Copia's cassock, gathering it and ordering Copia to hold it above his waist.

A sharp crimson suit lay beneath the cassock. Emeritus drew his hands over Copia's thighs to calm him. The Cardinal only shifted awkwardly. Emeritus could see him faintly through his trousers, though he wasn't quite excited yet. The roving hands moved toward the zipper, but distractedly began stroking Copia through the fabric. He started to squirm.

Emeritus continued to massage him as one hand brought the zipper down. Beneath he wore nothing and the Anti-Pope gasped. 

"Should I have expected anything less from such an exemplary brother of sin?" Emeritus asked playfully. His gaze was demonic as he looked upward.

The leather grasp on his cock had Copia forcing his eyes shut. He was half-hard, but that would not last long as Emeritus began to stroke him. It was dry, but the leather was so fucking smooth. Copia grimaced as he attempted to combat his reaction.

"You may close your eyes, but remember it is your Papa on his knees before you," Emeritus teased him.

Copia thrust into his hand involuntarily at this.

"So hesitant at first, but you feel a little powerful now, hmm?" Emeritus questioned.

The Cardinal nodded.

After a tight squeeze at the base of his cock, Emeritus' hand disappeared. He opened his eyes just as Emeritus gripped his ass and placed his lips at his tip before wrenching him forward into his mouth. His cock slammed against the back Emeritus' throat and a moan he didn't know he was holding escaped him.

"Fuck!" He groaned and leaned forward to brace himself against the mirror.

Emeritus maneuvered Copia's hips forward at a blistering pace. Between the feelings of warm, wet lips and a tight, slick throat Copia wondered how the man could take a face fucking that hard without gagging.

After several moments, Emeritus removed his mouth with a wet growl and pumped the heavy cock in his hand as he stared up at Copia.

"Grab my skull and fuck me yourself," he snarled. "As hard as you can. Rattle my fucking brain, you devious bastard."

Copia's eyes went wide with hunger and he slid a gloved finger into Papa's mouth.

"Evening mass approaches, so we can't make a mess, Cardinal. Cum in my throat like a good fucking boy," Emeritus ordered. He was ravenous with lust, stroking every inch of Copia with reverence.

"Yes, Papa," Copia breathed as he took his cock from Emeritus' hand and rested it in his open mouth. He gently took hold of the back of Emeritus' head, knocking the mitre to the floor. Copia gave a few slow, shallow strokes. A slick tongue slid across the underside of him and he whimpered. He continued at the same pace, but deepened his strokes.

"Close your mouth. Suck me," he instructed, but followed with a quick, "Your Unholiness."

Emeritus chuckled, but did as he instructed. Copia shoved in deep, feeling himself curve downward at the back of Emeritus' throat. He held himself there, staring at the scene in the mirror, momentarily considering what the clergy would think of their Papa choking to death on his cock. Copia pulled out to hear Emeritus make something like a gagging sound for the first time. That sound broke his control.

His fingers fisted in the hair beneath his hand and he began mercilessly fucking into Emeritus' mouth. The heat and tightness made quick work of him and he knew it wouldn't be much longer. Emeritus slid his trousers down his ass and began massaging him there.

As he felt his orgasm approaching, Copia pitched forward, his hands that were holding Emeritus' head collided against the mirror. His last few erratic thrusts beat Emeritus' head against the glass. Copia shuddered as he finished and felt muscles swallowing around him. Fevered strands of cum erupted and streamed down Emeritus' throat. As soon as sensitivity began to set in, he removed himself.

Copia turned immediately and reached for a clean undershirt resting on a dressing table. He carefully wiped himself clean, and patted at the saliva that had made it onto his trousers. He heard Emeritus moving behind him, but he did not want to look at him. What the fuck had just happened?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and reluctantly turned. Emeritus looked as if nothing had transpired. He had straightened his hair and vestments and replaced the mitre atop his head. The only remnant was the desire in his Unholy eyes.

Emeritus smoothed a hand over Copia's cassock, removing any remaining wrinkles.

"Every word of mass will be tainted by you," Emeritus told him as he drew a hand down his own throat. His voice was raw and deep. "As I slide the communion wafers in their mouths, I'll feel you slipping into mine." Emeritus' eyes flickered with lust.

Copia swallowed, not knowing what to say.

Emeritus moved in to press a kiss to his cheek.

"Dinner is at 7," he whispered.

Before he could speak a word, Emeritus had opened the door to the chapel and was making his entrance to the sound of grand applause. Copia followed him with halting steps. When he reached the altar, he announced Papa in a hollow voice before taking a seat beside Mother Perfidia and Sister Imperator. He stared down at his hands as mass began.

"Good evening, brothers and sisters. I hope you have all had fine days and that satisfying nights await you. I thank you again for welcoming me to your church and have found every member of the clergy to be a credit to our Ministry. None more so than your Cardinal, who has been most attentive to my needs," Emeritus confessed. He gestured to Copia, who reddened, but bowed in his seat.

"You must forgive my hoarse voice, brothers and sisters. Something has come over me," he deadpanned as he stared directly at Copia.

Though he feared it, the remainder of the mass was recited as expected. No more references to the Cardinal or their encounter. His nerves did not dissipate for the entire service. Once he had received Unholy Communion from a behaving Papa, Copia stalked haughtily from the abbey to his rectory.

He slammed the door shut and kicked backward at it with his foot. Two ghouls that had come with Emeritus sat at the dining table and scrambled out to see the commotion.

"Be about your business!" He barked at them and retreated to his room.

He set his biretta on a hat stand in his closet and then removed his cassock, laying it out across the bed.

His thoughts and emotions were conflicted. He had no love for Emeritus, but was it truly so disgusting to have done something that felt so fucking good with him? Lucifer would want him to reach out for pleasure in any form, but he thought of the days in academy when Marcelo would taunt him mercilessly.

Copia glanced up at a mirror beside his armoire and grinned.

"I throat-fucked that domineering shit," he laughed. A sensation of power filled him as he spoke the words. He laughed harder, remembering the filthy words for him that fell from Emeritus' lips. If his fifteen year old self could have been in the room to witness it, he wouldn't have believed his eyes.

He realized that Emeritus meant for them to have dinner in a quarter of an hour, which he could handle. Though he wondered what "entertaining each other" entailed. If it came to it, he was not sure he could fuck him. Or be fucked by him. With or without consequences. He tried to imagine it and cringed inwardly.

"Maybe if I'm drunk," he whispered to himself.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Your Eminence, will you do me the honor of raising an aperitif with me?" Emeritus asked in a cheerful voice.

Copia stood and smoothed his hair in the mirror.

He braced himself and opened the door.

"Of course, Unholiness."

"Come," Emeritus said as he placed an arm around Copia's shoulders and led him down the hall into the dining room. Wine was already poured and elegant settings had been placed. Though the table was large enough for sixteen guests, only three places at the head and on either side of the head were set.

"Are we expecting someone?" Copia wondered aloud.

"A mistake. Your staff are only human," Emeritus replied and handed Copia a glass of wine.

Emeritus lifted his glass and waited for Copia to do the same.

"To a night of satisfaction," the Anti-Pope toasted with a sly grin.

Copia nodded and they brought their glasses together. Both drank deeply and Copia felt he should address the issue at hand.

"You enjoyed yourself, didn't you?" Emeritus asked suddenly, reading his thoughts.

"Yes…"

"Then every other thought or care is immaterial," Emeritus assured him. He caressed his face with a soft white glove. "We must enjoy what we can and question it only once we've had all of the pleasure we can take from it."

A quiet sound like knocking filtered into the room from the entryway. Both men looked curiously at one another, worried they'd invented it.

It came again slightly louder, but surely there.

"Excuse me, sir," Copia said and left to answer the door.

Waiting on the other side was Sister Lucia, bundled up in a long coat. She was smiling, but something about her seemed nervous.

"Sister Lucia, now is not an ideal time to discuss whatever you intended to tell me earlier. Unless there is something urgent," he told her, trying to shoo her before Emeritus caught scent.

Her face fell.

"I received your message," she said faintly.

The door was wrenched back out of Copia's hand as Emeritus arrived to survey the scene.

"Sister Lucia, you are in time for an aperitif before dinner. Welcome our guest inside, Eminence, before she gets cold," Emeritus ordered. He beckoned her in.

Copia stood aside and Sister Lucia gave each of them a small bow as she entered. He swiftly sussed out what Emeritus had done. He glared at Papa as Sister Lucia removed her coat. He could have murdered him.

Then he saw her, standing before him as the picture of beauty and innocence itself. A pure white gown flowing down her body. Lucifer had sculpted her more finely than any other creature.

"You are beauty itself," the words were out before he realized.

Sister Lucia blushed and took some of the fabric between her fingers.

"Your gift is very kind, Eminence. I've never worn anything as fine."

Copia's eyes flashed to Emeritus who winked at him.

"Your Unholiness, if you wish to dine alone with Cardinal Copia-" she managed before Emeritus took her arm gently in his.

"You are our guest of honor. Now come," he instructed and they entered the dining room.

Papa poured her a glass and raised his glass again.

"As I was saying to Copia, to a night of satisfaction," Emeritus repeated. They toasted and Sister Lucia's eyes looked to Copia's in concern. She sensed something strange.

She sipped her wine and tried not to comment on the tension coursing through Copia.

Emeritus made several jokes that she barely heard, but she knew when to laugh politely. Dinner was set shortly and they took their seats. Emeritus at the head and Sister Lucia and Copia on either side of him.

"I would like to make a strange request for the night," Emeritus admitted after a lull in the conversation. "I love being Papa, it is a great joy, but I think tonight I wish to cast off my title. I want to relax while I am with my friend."

He took Copia's hand.

"Let us all cast off our titles until morning, yes?" He asked them both.

"I wouldn't know what to call you, Unholiness," Sister Lucia replied.

He took her hand, reaching out to both of them.

"My mother named me Marcelo, and what was your name before the sisterhood?" Marcelo asked.

"Lara. It was your mother who named me after finding me on the church steps," she answered.

Marcelo looked to Copia. "She chose all of our names then, Giacomo. You have told her that you were a foundling here as well?"

"I have, it has fostered a strong bond between us," Giacomo said with pride.

Lara beamed at the man across from her.

"Giacomo, I thought grooming children was a Catholic practice," Marcelo laughed.

Giacomo and Lara pulled their hands from Marcelo's.

"A bad joke, forgive me. You can punish me later," he assured them and took a drink. "I have never seen you so full of pride as when you look at her," he told Giacomo.

Lara blushed and looked away from them.

"Pride is a glorious and commanding sin, yes? To have it for another is akin to covetousness. You see yourself in her triumphs and that is pride's sister and wife, vanity. The most beautiful sin." As Marcelo spoke, the others found themselves turning toward him again.

"Tell me, Lara. When you wrote that dusty essay in the academy, 'Who is Lucifer?' what did you write?"

She was shocked he remembered that essay, it had been months since she completed hers, but surely decades for him.

"I wrote that he is us. That while the false God gave us a hollow form, it was Lucifer who filled the homunculus bodies with spirit. Through his wisdom he gave us true souls and life. The false God offered the shallowest form of himself to his creations, but Lucifer gave us all of himself, because he faithfully loves humanity. He fell for us." Following her overview, she saw the eyes of the men glistening in the light.

"Top marks, I'd wager?" Marcelo asked.

"Yes, I believe so," Lara demurred.

"Mother Perfidia brought it to me and I have rarely been more moved," Giacomo added. "Lara recited it at her matriculation before the congregation."

"An accomplished scholar, and I hear your Latin is quite good," Marcelo prompted.

"Abundat dulcibus vitiis," she said with a smile and skewered a scallop with her fork.

Marcelo laughed at the recitation of his motto, and for the first time since she arrived, Giacomo seemed to relax. 

"And if you had your own motto, Lara, what would it be?" Marcelo wondered.

Without pause, Lara spoke, "Omnes una manet nox."

"The same night awaits us all," Marcelo translated aloud. "Exquisite. You must make something of yourself in the Ministry, I would like to see such words emblazoned on banners."

Lara had been sipping her wine and she could not help but feel flattered by Marcelo's words. No matter what she called him, he was still the highest authority in the Ministry.

"Is it true?" She suddenly heard herself asking. "About the Lofty Pillar motto?" That was not supposed to be aloud.

Marcelo chuckled and looked archly between them.

"Do you ask if I considered it or if the pillar is indeed as lofty as rumor claims?" He moved over the table toward her, leaning on his forearms.

Lara shrunk back in her seat.

"If you considered it," she managed to say.

"No, I did not." He sat down again. "I knew precisely what it would be from adolescence."

Marcelo turned to Giacomo.

"She is fun, I don't remember the last time someone asked me that." He emptied his glass and set it upside down on the table. He noticed Giacomo's meal was untouched. "I had them prepare this for you especially, Giac. You must try it."

"It's delicious," Lara confirmed. She drew a scallop through the beurre blanc before taking a large bite. A little smile of satisfaction spread over her face and she gave an appropriate moan of delight.

Giacomo forced a smile and took his first bite. She was right, it was perfection.

"Thank you, Unholiness," he said in defeat.

"Giacomo, you are not playing along," Marcelo chided him.

"Thank you, Marcelo," he corrected himself.

"What do you generally do once your duties are over for the day?" Marcelo asked conversationally. "You told me earlier that you reserve the night for play."

Giacomo's eyes bore into Lara's. "Just yesterday I found interest in a new… hobby that I believe I shall be filling my nights with in the future." His eyes grazed over her breastbone where he imagined blood in the shape of the pentagram.

"You'll have to share it with me," Marcelo replied.

Lara let a giggle escape and Giacomo glared at Marcelo again.

"What about yourself, sir?" Lara intervened.

Marcelo hummed, taking a morsel from his plate.

"It depends on my mood. Sometimes I bring a sister to my bed, other times a brother in the confessional booth. When I am particularly lonely, I have both or several join me," he said this with great nonchalance. "I also enjoy restoring paintings."

Giacomo raised his eyebrows. "Restoration?"

"Yes, it's where I sink my patience," Marcelo joked.

"I have restored several of the paintings on these walls," Giacomo confessed.

"My mother taught you, yes?"

Giacomo nodded. "Mother Perfidia has been instructing me for many years."

"I am biased, but my mamma is by far the best Mother in the Ministry," Marcelo beamed.

Lara caught his smile, she hardly expected him to be a mama's boy.

"It pleases me that she continues to share her passion for the arts. Perhaps tomorrow, you will give me a tour of your works, Giac."

"Of course." Giacomo felt himself settling. He took another sip of wine and placed his napkin on the table.

Marcelo tossed his napkin on the table as well and stood.

"Please join me in the sitting room," he requested and then bowed gracefully.

Lara stood and immediately found her hand being taken by Marcelo. He placed a chaste kiss upon it and led her to the sitting room. Giacomo followed behind them.

Lara had never been inside the rectory and found herself marveling at the paintings and ornate decor. A harpsichord and wall of records lined one side of the room and the rest was filled with an antique loveseat and Davenport. Marcelo deposited her on the loveseat and then began rifling through records to play. Giacomo perched on the arm of the sofa across from Lara.

The swinging sound of soft jazz began to play throughout the room. Marcelo danced back to the others and sat angled on the Davenport, one bent leg resting beneath the other.

Giacomo moved to the small bar cart that a ghoul wheeled in. He poured scotch over ice and returned to the arm of the sofa. He was able to take a few sips before Marcelo was leaning toward him.

"May I?" His superior asked, hand extended toward the glass.

He placed it in his hand and watched him sip at it. Marcelo bottom lip disappeared into his mouth as he savoured the liquor.

"I am transported to an ancient forest. An 18 year, no doubt? The most luscious, a perfect age." He winked at Lara and then he was up and offering her the glass. "You must try it."

She took it and glanced at Giacomo.

"It's earthen and mossy, you might not enjoy it," he warned her.

Lara sipped lightly, allowing a small trickle over her tongue. Her taste buds prickled and she found herself shuddering involuntarily.

"Mossy," she choked.

Marcelo laughed and took it from her.

"An acquired taste, piccola," he explained and drew a finger over the tip of her nose. 

Giacomo returned to the bar cart, and poured a different liquor into a glass without ice. He brought it to Lara and plucked his glass from Marcelo's hand.

"It's brandy, I think you'll enjoy it," Giacomo told her as he took a seat on the sofa.

The corner of Lara's lips raised. 

"Are you both trying to get me drunk?" She asked playfully before taking a drink. A sound of surprised satisfaction emitted from her throat. "It's sweet, I do like it."

Marcelo moved to sit beside her, body angled toward her.

"We're only trying to make you comfortable," he explained and swept the hair hanging over her left shoulder back behind her neck. His hand rested at the base of her skull, drawing patterns with his white gloved fingers.

Giacomo could barely contain his rage on the other side of the room. He dared not leave, but he was not sure how to stop what was happening. He willed Lara to look at him, to see his distress, but her eyes were closed due to Marcelo's ministrations.

"Will you tell us a secret, little sister?" Marcelo asked suddenly, dipping in close to her.

She opened her eyes and nodded.

"Who is the best fuck you've ever had?" His breath was hot on her and she began to stutter.

Giacomo was on his feet, apparently prepared to hit him.

Lara shook her head. "No one, I've never…" she shook her head and turned her face away.

Marcelo's eyes grew large and he shifted his gaze to Giacomo. His brow furrowed and his eyes moved back and forth between his companions. He removed his hand from Lara's neck and shifted back.

"Perhaps I have had too much wine tonight," he mumbled. 

Marcelo closed his eyes in thought and then leapt up to his feet, stepping swiftly over to Giacomo. He extended a hand to him and rolled his hips with the music.

"Dance with me, old friend?" Marcelo urged him. "Lara, come dance with us."

He held a hand out for each of them. They put their drinks down and Lara made her way over quickly and took the proffered hand. Giacomo followed her lead.

"I'm not much of a dancer," Lara confessed.

Marcelo shifted behind her and gripped her waist.

"Then we'll teach you. Dance with Giacomo and I'll help you. Put your hands in his and listen to the rhythm. It makes you want to sway your hips, yes?"

Lara followed his instructions and looked up at her Cardinal. He was already moving, waiting for her to follow him. Marcelo moved her hips until she began understanding the movement on her own. She smiled and bit her bottom lip.

Giacomo's eyes fell to her mouth and she wondered if he would kiss her. With the long bleat of a trumpet, the swinging upbeat song that was playing gave way to a slow burning jazz ballad.

All that mattered in that moment to Giacomo was that she was in his arms.

Marcelo inched nearer to Lara, his hips pressing her forward against Giacomo. She paused, frozen between the two men.

"Keep dancing, cara," he breathed beside her face.

She did as she was told, trapped between their bodies. A thrill of excitement crept through her as they moved against her. White gloves trailed up the front of Giacomo's suit, gripping his lapels and crushing him in even closer.

"Tell us another secret," Marcelo prompted against her throat. The movement of his hips had changed from swaying to near thrusting.

"Yes..." Lara managed.

"Do you love your Cardinal?"

She nodded and stared up at Giacomo with hungry eyes.

"Yes…" she repeated.

Marcelo stroked Giacomo's cheek tenderly.

"Show him, show him your affection," he advised.

She placed her hands delicately on either side of his neck and tugged him down to press her lips to his. It was chaste and unskilled, hardly a kiss at all. Then his head was tilting and he was wrenching her closer by her shoulders. She felt his moustache tickling at her and his tongue slicking over her lips.

"Open your mouth for him," she heard Marcelo say in her ear. "He wants to taste you."

Lara parted her lips and slowly, Giacomo's tongue entered, searching for hers. Moans of delight escaped her as shivers of pleasure coursed down her body. She bucked hard against him as their kiss deepened.

Behind her, Marcelo had begun pressing open-mouthed kisses along her neck and shoulder. Upon reaching the strap of her gown, he tugged it down, causing the gown to plunge on one side.

She was gasping for air when Giacomo eventually released her from the kiss.

"Touch him, cara. Tell me if he is as hard for you as I am," Marcelo urged her.

Lara hesitated as Giacomo laid kisses upon her throat. His leather gloved hand clasped hers and dragged it down over the swell of his cock. He ground into her palm and she felt his teeth grazing her skin.

"Yes, sir… he is..." she whimpered. Her breathing was uneven and shallow, when she could think of anything other than the moment, it was how unprecedented, yet welcome the situation was.

"Good girl, Lara," Marcelo cooed in her ear. He rocked his own stiff cock against her ass and bit gently into her ear lobe. "Describe him to me," he pushed.

“Hard and… big, so big…” She moaned.

"For you," Giacomo whispered in her hair again and again. He slipped the remaining strap of her gown from her shoulder and planted kisses along her hairline. She nuzzled into his cheek, her nose burrowing into his sideburn.

Lara did not realize the top of her gown was pooled at her waist until Marcelo's white cloth glove slid forward to stroke her bare breast. She gasped and reached backward, gripping his thigh. Giacomo appeared in awe of her bare skin, and he slowly and deliberately placed five kisses to her chest.

When the last kiss was placed he caressed the breast that Marcelo had neglected and gently took its peak between his teeth.

Lara shuddered, the cloth and leather gloves were enjoyable, and it was a pleasure to be touched. They were however, nothing compared to the warm, wet suction of her Cardinal's mouth. His teeth had delivered a stinging shock of pleasure between her thighs.

"Fuck…" She panted. Her free hand tangled in Giacomo's hair and the other searched desperately behind her for Marcelo's groin.

"That's the right idea," Marcelo chuckled as she found what she was looking for. He allowed her to massage him through his trousers for a few more moments before he spoke again. "Perhaps we should retire to my bedroom for the night."

Lara's movements stilled and Giacomo rested his head against her shoulder. He sighed and pulled her away from Marcelo. He brushed a few rogue black hairs from his superior's face.

"I could have strangled you earlier," Giacomo admitted and encircled his hands around Marcelo's throat. The man in his hold flashed a Cheshire grin.

"But you do play the most marvelous games, don't you?" Giacomo asked before descending upon his captive with a rough kiss, simultaneously squeezing at his windpipe.

He held the pressure until Marcelo's eyes began to water. When he released him, Marcelo grabbed his wrist and reached for Lara. 

"Bedroom. Now," he ordered and towed them behind him. As they moved he spoke. "I had hopes this night would end this way. Lucifer himself ordained this ritual, he stood beside me in dreams and foresaw this night."

Giacomo and Lara exchanged a questioning glance.

"Foresaw this night?" Giacomo repeated.

Marcelo turned as they reached his door.

"For years, the Old One has visited my dreams. He is beside me in a chapel I have never seen. There is a strange altar and upon it-"

"Is a child," Lara finished.

Marcelo stroked her cheek.

"Yes. The child is in darkness and I stand to one side. Another figure in darkness stands opposite me. We destroy the child with our bare hands.  
For years, I had this same dream. But two nights ago, it changed. Same chapel, same altar, but in the place of the child was a young woman in darkness. And in the place of the other figure stood a familiar Cardinal. I saw myself embrace the young woman and in turns we made love on the altar."

Lara was in a strange state of shock, she stepped back a few paces, but was still in Marcelo’s grip.

"I have had similar dreams for three years. Always the same. Always the child being killed," she whispered.

"Then you will recognize this," Marcelo said and opened the door to the bedroom.

It was the chapel and it was not the chapel. The bed was the altar, but it was not the altar. Streaming damask curtains in burgundy and black hung from the windows and four poster bed. Candles were lit and covered every available surface. Smoke curled through the air and the scent of incense filled their nostrils.

He crept behind her and took hold of her shoulders.

"I have wondered at our Lord's intentions, but it is clear to me now that the sacrifice that must be made tonight is not your life," he assured her.

His hands caressed her sides and moved forward, cupping between her legs firmly.

"It is your childhood that must be sacrificed. And who better to perform such a ritual than a prince and a king?" He questioned while petting her softly through the sheer gown.

Giacomo hovered in the doorway.

"Come, the night is young and there is much pleasure to be had," Marcelo summoned him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A ritual that satisfies.

Giacomo closed and locked the door before returning to his companions. He pulled Lara in for another deep kiss and then quietly asked, “You are certain, yes?”

“I am,” she replied, adding a kiss of her own. 

Marcelo stilled his hand over her heat and gripped Lara’s chin.

“I want one of those,” he rasped and turned Lara’s head until he was able to place his lips upon hers. His mouth was blazing and he assaulted her with his tongue as if he were starving. “Fuck, you taste innocent...” He groaned as he pulled away.

Giacomo busied himself with drawing the rest of Lara’s gown to her feet. The sight that awaited him was familiar, but the setting was infinitely improved. He sunk down and buried his nose and mouth at the apex of her closed thighs without warning. She brushed his hair lightly as he nestled into her. The bridge of his nose often stroked her most sensitive flesh and her stance gradually widened, silently pleading for more attention.

He greedily obliged, lapping up at her from his knees. Marcelo secured her arms behind her back and slid one leg forward to open her stance further. She leaned back into him for support and watched as Giacomo alternated between sucking and flicking his tongue at her clit.

“So hungry for you,” Marcelo panted. He began thrusting behind her in a languid rhythm. After a few moments of annoyance, Giacomo could predict his superior’s movements.

When the movements stilled, he knew it was time for a new game.

“Lara, it’s too warm, help your Pa-” He caught himself. “Help me undress.” Marcelo popped the first button on his jacket open.

She reluctantly turned from Giacomo and started unbuttoning Marcelo's jacket.

"Not like that." Giacomo grasped her hands and moved one to rest on Marcelo's chest. He ran her palm across his torso and up to his neck. "Give him attention, let him feel how much you want him. Then slowly let your other hand do the work."

She continued to caress Marcelo as she finished unfastening his jacket and slid it back over his shoulders. Beneath he wore an undershirt and she slid her palms under the hem and felt the warm skin hiding there. Her hands worked upward, exposing his pale flesh. He was thin and lean, the stomach under her touch was taut and quivering in anticipation. When she pulled it up over his head, he reached out and encircled her waist.

The kiss that followed was even more hungry than before. He ground his hips against her in time with the thrusts of his tongue between her lips. She reached down for the fastening on his trousers and he moved to assault her neck. The trousers were quick work and soon Lara pushed them off his hips to the floor. She felt him against her stomach as he continued to grind. Curiosity told her to look, but a small fear stopped her.

"Giacomo isn't playing fair," she whispered to Marcelo. "All those clothes."

Marcelo's chest rumbled with a chuckle.

"You must help him," he ordered.

She turned from him and felt a swift and sudden strike swipe across the right cheek of her ass. Then his hand massaged the reddened skin.

Lara approached Giacomo where he stood at the end of the bed. With a gentle hand, she pressed him back until his knees buckled at the bed frame.

"Sit," she instructed.

He did so without a word.

She mounted his thighs and buried both hands in his hair. Her face hid against his throat and pressed light kisses there. She moved her hips in a rhythm that came to her naturally. Her fingers absently worked at his clothing until she found skin. His jacket and shirt beneath fell to the floor and she stared at him. Pale skin, like Papa, and nearly as thin, but with more meat and muscle.

Where Marcelo was bare, Giacomo's chest was covered in hair and she sunk into him, raking her fingers through the softness there.

Marcelo propped himself against the post next to them and lazily stroked himself as he watched.

Lara shifted back to unfasten his pants and Giacomo began removing his leather gloves.

"Don't!" She commanded, then turned a lovely shade of crimson.

He looked at the gloves and back to her with a sly smile. His leather clad hands caressed every part of her he could reach. He delicately held her throat, drawing his fingers up and down.

She succeeded with his trousers and wrenched them down. Suddenly her moist slit was moving against his fully erect cock.

He released a deep groan and his eyes disappeared back into his head. If he hadn't gotten off earlier he would have cum immediately. His eyes snapped open on Marcelo, who only winked. It was tempting to take hold of her hips and slam inside of her in that moment, but he paused. He moved her back and brought his hand to her heat, stroking forward skillfully.

Giacomo slid backward onto the bed, pulling Lara with him and bucking her off and onto her back. When she was beneath him, he drew a hand from her temple to her thighs.

"Lucifer's most beautiful light," he said quietly enough so that Marcelo would not overhear.

In the next moment, Marcelo had gracefully laid himself out beside Lara, head propped on one arm and knee in the air. His free hand travelled over Lara's stomach and breasts. His lips suckled at the base of her ear and then he moved to lightly roll her nipple between his teeth. Lara gave a choked sound of pleasure pressed him closer to her.

Giacomo experimentally began inserting a finger into Lara's hot cunt. It slipped in, leather and all, with almost no resistance. She writhed slightly, adjusting to the new sensation. While she had touched herself, she rarely inserted her fingers. It felt foreign and strange, and it was only a fraction of what was to come.

Slowly, he removed the digit and pushed in again. His other hand started to circle her clit. She gasped, gazing at him the entire time. It felt good, but there was a pressure and ache that persisted.

"It feels strange," she admitted.

Marcelo entwined his hand with hers and brought it to his half-hard cock.

"One must always be prepared to try new experiences," Marcelo told her. "Touch me, little one. See how much power you have over my body. It will make you feel like a goddess."

She complied, stroking him at the same speed she felt Giacomo's finger fucking her. Marcelo quickly became hard and Lara's eyes widened at the size of him. While she stared, Giacomo added another finger inside of her.

"Ahhh," she whimpered. The pleasure from the attention he was paying to her clit began to build and she felt her muscles clench around his fingers. The sensation of the leather stroking her walls was suddenly a welcome intrusion.

Marcelo's gaze fixed on Lara's face as she sighed and attempted to quiet any moans that chanced to escape her. Her attention was on his cock in her hand. A studious expression mingled with awe as she stroked up and down, fingers light as feathers.

"Harder, timid girl. You won't break me." Marcelo nestled his face against hers and then closed his hand over hers, moving and gripping tightly. She adjusted her grip and continued without his assistance. His fingers drew over her lips and he knew what he wanted. "I want to feel your lips around me, I want to fuck your pure little mouth."

Marcelo shifted to his knees and made his way behind her head. He rose up on his haunches and she saw his cock hovering above her face. His hands slipped under her head, cradling it tenderly.

Her tongue flicked at the underside tentatively. Marcelo sighed and his grip on her tightened. She tried again with a longer stroke and sucked the tip into her mouth. It pulled from her lips with an audible pop and then Marcelo was on his knees, angling his hips for better access to her mouth.

"Open wide," he instructed. When she complied he placed two fingers in her mouth. Slowly, he slid them in and out. "This is how I will fuck your mouth, little one. It's such a pretty mouth that I am likely to forget myself. If you fear I have-"

He removed his hand from under her head and tapped her chest three times. She nodded, his digits still in her mouth. They started to move faster and deeper. When she feared choking she reached up to tap him and he removed the offending fingers.

"Good girl," he praised and began sliding his cock into her mouth. He hissed as she closed her lips around him and sucked deeply. Her tongue snaked over his length, eliciting more hissing and a few moans. 

In his bliss, Marcelo glanced at Giacomo.

"Eat her," he urged. "Make your little disciple scream around my cock."

"Oh yes, old friend," Giacomo agreed.

He bent low and shoved his tongue between the place where his fingers spread open inside her. It swept upward, swiping hard and wet into her clit.

Lara's hips vaulted upward. A high keen escaping her throat signaled to him that she approved.

"Fuck yes, she is very pleased with your efforts," Marcelo assured him and stroked his hand through Giacomo's hair. He continued to pump into Lara's mouth while examining the erection of the man before him. "So excited just from being able to touch her, this vestal virgin has quite the spell over you," he groaned.

Giacomo raised his head, eyes heavily lidded and fixed on Marcelo.

"When you feel how fucking tight this perfect little pussy is, perhaps you'll understand," Giacomo advised hoarsely before dipping back down.

Lara bucked upward again. This time, Marcelo firmly held her down. She whimpered in pleasure, and the sudden grip surprised her.

"Focus on my cock," he instructed. The deeper he thrusted, he felt himself reaching toward a climax. The hips beneath his fingers began to tremble. Lara's hands that had previously been fisted in the sheets reached down to grip Giacomo's hair. One curled into Marcelo's hand that was already there, while the other found its target. She crushed him closer and Marcelo felt each hungry moan vibrate around his cock.

"Oh, yes, pure child. Cum for us, you dirty little girl," Marcelo growled and reached down to caress her cheek.

She pressed up into him and he felt a ragged exhale flutter against the sides of his length. He pulled himself from between her lips and quickly shifted to cradle her head and upper body.

"Good girl, cum for him. Feels fucking good, doesn't it?" Marcelo continued to caress her face and her hips jerked up into Giacomo's mouth.

Lara nodded and gave a small murmur of agreement.

"Mmhmm, mmhmm," Marcelo mocked her lightly. "Fucking you with his mouth so well you forgot how to speak?"

Lara's back arched and a near silent cry tore from her throat as she shuddered through her orgasm.

"So fucking pretty," Marcelo whispered. He massaged one of her breasts as she arched up again. "Delicious, pretty little sister." He swept a wicked tongue along her throat under her jaw. As her trembling subsided, Giacomo looked up at them. He raised his moistened glove to his lips and took the fingers that had been inside her into his mouth.

Lara and Marcelo shared a moan. Her ankles attempted to hook around behind Giacomo and pull him closer. He complied and crawled close over her body. For a moment he ignored her and shared a kiss with Marcelo over her shoulder that seemed to surprise the Anti-pope.

Delicate hands slid down Giacomo's ribs and around his back. He felt a tentative touch on his ass and rolled into it. Another hand pressed against his stomach before sliding down to take hold of his cock. He sighed and his eyes slid closed.

"Stroke him, just like I showed you," he heard Marcelo tell Lara. She did as instructed, increasing the pressure and pumping him several times from base to tip. Giacomo heard a drawer slide open but didn't open his eyes.

"Does it feel good?" A small voice asked beneath him.

He opened his eyes on Lara's anxious face. Her cherubic lips had been fucked into a rosy pout. Giacomo leaned down and captured her mouth in a tender kiss.

"Yes, my darling," he whispered against her lips. Another kiss followed, soft and sweet. Lara broke it and inhaled the scent of him. It was the deep bergamot and wooden scent that had comforted her since childhood. She felt small under him, his heavy gaze pinning her down. He was a man of age and experience, and she knew nothing. Marcelo pet her and pressed his lips into her hair.

"Are you ready, sister?" Marcelo asked. "Giac is so ready it looks painful." He extended a bottle of lubricant to Giacomo.

It was a velvety formula that slid easily over him. He applied the remainder on his palm against Lara's slit. Two fingers pressed into her.

She stilled and gave a small gasp.

"Will it hurt?" She cried softly and reached for his face. Her fingers caressed through his sideburns.

The very tip of his cock slipped against her.

Giacomo nodded. "It will pass quickly if you are relaxed. Can you relax into Marcelo for me?"

She exhaled and laid back.

"Calm her nerves, Marcelo. Use your charms," Giacomo requested. "Lara?"

"Yes, I want you," she answered. Her thighs spread wide and Marcelo took one of her hands. Giacomo stroked her cheek with the back of his gloved hand.

He steadied himself at Lara's entrance and carefully guided his head into her. The thighs on either side of him tensed and her eyes clamped shut. He shook with an anxiety that he had not felt in decades. There was a quality eerily reminiscent of his first time.

Worried green eyes peered up at him.

"You're too big, it hurts," Lara whimpered.

"Be strong, daughter of Satan. He will reward his most beautiful child if she is patient," Marcelo moaned into her ear. "Imagine our Dark Lord's fire filling you. He would not have delivered you to us if there was only pain to be had. We worship at your altar and its maiden sacrifice. Soon you will crave the warmth of another deep inside."

Lara began to calm and her eyelids fluttered at Marcelo's words. Giacomo was buried halfway into her and shaking with the effort of going so slowly.

"I've never felt anything this tight. So wet and warm and tight for me, beautiful girl." Giacomo slid in further. "Every night for months I dreamed of being inside of you, and it is so much more than what I had envisioned."

Lara felt him stretch her and then the sting and ache that followed. A few tears of pain coursed over her cheeks.

"It will pass, cara. In moments you'll be begging for it deeper. And Giacomo or I will oblige you," Marcelo cooed. He swept the tears from her face.

A guttural groan poured from Giacomo's mouth as he finally felt himself entirely enveloped inside her warmth.

Marcelo ran his cheek along hers and praised her as he stroked himself. "You've taken him all, sweet girl. I'm so proud of you. I can't wait to feel you around me, to feel your heartbeat through your tight little pussy."

Lara bucked at his words, sliding along Giacomo's shaft. She grasped his back and held onto him.

"Don't let me go," she begged him.

"Never," Giacomo breathed hot against her throat. "Not my precious girl." He pulled out carefully and felt her shuddering. As it subsided, he thrust back in. She clung to him and he heard her ragged exhale. Marcelo was smirking when he chanced a look at him. His hand worked lazily over his cock.

Lara relaxed after a pause and Giacomo stroked in and out languidly a few times. She panted against his collarbone and planted desperate kisses there. Giacomo supported himself above her and began a slow-paced fuck.

"So beautiful," Marcelo sighed. He watched the place where their bodies joined and his fist moved faster.

Lara nestled into Marcelo's chest while caressing Giacomo's shoulders.

"Are you in pain?" Giacomo asked between thrusts.

She met his movements readily and her head rolled from side to side.

"There is an ache, but I feel… it's silly." Her top row of teeth sunk into her bottom lip.

"Tell us."

"I feel Lucifer and His light radiating from both of you," she panted."Stronger than I've ever felt His presence. It's like He's here, guiding us."

"He is here, inside of us, taking our pleasure for Himself," Marcelo confirmed. "Offer it to Him."

"Yes…" Lara hissed and began roughly meeting Giacomo's thrusts. His cock hit deeper with each stroke and cries of desire poured from her lips. "Fuck, hmmm, yes. Giac, fuck me… Fuck me…"

Giacomo sensed himself coming undone by her words and the frenzied beat within his chest. He clenched the muscles in his stomach, willing Lucifer to give him more time inside her as his pleasure mounted.

Lara took his face in her hands and peered unblinking into his disparate eyes. Her lips shifted soundlessly to form the words, "Love me."

He released any control he had left as sensations of euphoria coursed through him. He surged inside of her, the friction heightening his peak. Jerking madly, he called out a few wordless cries. When the last of him was spilled, he was loathe to move away from her.

Kisses peppered every inch of her before he shifted back onto his knees. There was blood and it pained him. He had seen virgins deflowered before, but there was rarely blood.

Marcelo heaved a breath and brought his fingers to her sex. They sunk into her briefly and when he withdrew them he spoke softly.

"Suscipe eam in sanguine, Satanas," he recited with closed eyes.

Lara sat up and turned to watch as he drew her blood across his upper chest in the shape of an inverted cross. Giacomo placed a reassuring caress along her shoulder blade.

When Marcelo's eyes opened, he beckoned her forward. She looked back uncertainly at Giacomo who nodded against her cheek.

"Go to him."

Marcelo was raised up on his knees, back straight with open arms. Lara nervously straddled him. She felt her slit dripping and whimpered in embarrassment.

"Shh, shh, shh…" Marcelo calmed her, enclosing her in his embrace. "Do you know what it does to me? Watching your sweet cunt weeping his cum?" He kissed her forehead. "I want to fuck you full of my seed and devour the stains of our obscene love making."

Lara gasped and his mouth was against hers. His tongue thrashed and she submitted to him. As they kissed, he gripped his length and buried it inside her. 

A cry rang out as Lara was impaled on his cock. The new angle was far more deep-seated than she was prepared for.

He remained still, peering up at her with a mystified expression. His eyes shifted about her face and she realized that he looked… lost. She pulled him close to her chest and kissed his hair. Circling slowly, she moved her hips against him. He grasped her tightly about the waist with both arms and rutted up into her savagely.

She felt something trickle between her breasts and she held him tighter.

"Little sorceress," she heard him growl. His lips and teeth scraped her skin.

Giacomo, who had been exploring Lara's bouncing ass with ungloved hands, paused to listen.

"You're bewitching me, I can feel it." Marcelo looked at her and she saw tracks that tears had bled through his skull paint. "I feel sixteen again. Like this is the only pussy I've ever had." His efforts doubled into a brutal fucking. He struck a place with each shove that made Lara quake and gasp.

Open mouth kisses and the now familiar tickling of a moustache assaulted the crook of her neck from behind.

"She's remarkable…" Giacomo rasped. "I felt it too." His hand trailed toward the apex of her thighs and he whirled his index finger around her clit. "Will you offer more to our Dark Lord?"

Oxygen left her as a second orgasm began to build. 

"Offer it to me, my little witch." Marcelo's breathing was uneven, his movements becoming more unpredictable. "I want you to cum on my cock and I want it all to myself."

His face disappeared into her breasts again and his thrusts became more focused. Giacomo sensed it was his last attempt at control before—

A halting whine left Lara as she came again. It became a vibrato as Marcelo desperately jerked into her a few more times. He filled her as promised and shuddered to a stop. Lara shook as he slipped from her, and she collapsed back into Giacomo.

He pressed his lips to the crown of her golden-haired head. Exhausted tears fell from her eyes. 

Marcelo held his face in his hands and ran his hands through his hair a few times. After a few moments he chuckled.

"That was… fucking something…" His eyes roved Lara's body. "You should help her clean up, Giac. I doubt the poor cara could stand."

"Can you?" Giacomo countered.

Marcelo smirked. "If I could I wouldn't want to. Bring your old friend a towel. I have my own rituals to attend to." He reached over to the bedside table and produced a cigarette case. He heaved and rested back against the pillows while lighting one. He stroked the inverted cross on his chest and recited a lengthy prayer to Satan.

Giacomo helped Lara to her feet and led her through a doorway to the bath. He turned on the spray and waited for warmth before stepping in with Lara held firmly to his chest. The water quickly washed away Marcelo's skull paint that had smeared between her breasts. He smiled to himself. 

"I didn't think I would be so tired," she admitted.

"It's late, darling. And it does take it out of you."

She kissed his chest and pet through the wet hair under her fingertips.

"I was afraid of Papa and of Lucifer's plan, but I knew I could be strong because you were with me."

His brow furrowed and he examined her. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"I did want to. I wanted you and I wanted to understand Lucifer's designs for me. I wanted you to be proud of me."

"I am always proud of you." He kissed forehead. "You don't have to please Marcelo to make it happen. Only please yourself."

She nodded and rested into him.

"Should I ask him more about our dreams? He must know more about them than I do."

"You should sleep. We'll ask him together in the morning if you like. We might have more serious answers when the mitre is back on his head," Giacomo reasoned.

"Mmhmm," was her exhausted reply.

He washed and dried her delicately before carrying her back out into the bedroom. A damp towel dangled from his left hand.

"Come back to bed. I've had a ghoul strip and change it. I prefer the scent of sex and blood to clean sheets, but I thought you would appreciate it." A fresh cigarette balanced between Marcelo's fingers.

Giacomo walked steadily around to the other side of the bed and laid Lara out carefully. Marcelo snatched the damp towel from his hand. He ran it over himself but left the inverted cross.

"This isn't necessary, I can take her back to my room," Giacomo said, still standing at the side of the bed. "If you'd like to be alone."

Marcelo took a drag and smoke flowed from his nostrils.

"Get in the fucking bed before Papa has to bend you over it," he growled, then grinned and patted the mattress.

Still nude, Giacomo slid next to Lara. She was already deep in sleep.

Marcelo caressed her cheek. "Satan has grand intentions for our little sister." He stubbed out his half-smoked cigarette and shifted to lie face-to-face with the sleeping young woman.

"What does he tell you?"

Marcelo winked at him. "We'll talk more tomorrow. I'm too tired for 20 questions." He turned to blow out the candles next to him and then went silent.

Giacomo did not enjoy his sage teasing and certainly not where Lara was concerned. He leaned into her, pulling her close and fell asleep to prophetic dreams of his own.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucifer sends Copia a prophetic nightmare. Sister Lucia finds one of Papa's ghouls too close for comfort, and Emeritus tries something new during mass.

When Giacomo opened his eyes he saw himself standing in the archway of a large chapel that stretched out before him. He recognized it immediately as the one Lara and Marcelo had alluded to.

He felt a powerful presence to his right side, but did not turn. It was his Dark Lord and his faith did not require him to look. On a great altar ahead he saw an unmoving dark shape.

After a step forward he felt weighed down, sluggishly inching toward whatever revelation awaited him. The closer he drew, the more he could make out a human form. One that laid dishearteningly still.

His foot connected with the altar and he stared down at the body of a man in a dark, loose fitting suit. It was bereft of a head. The weight he had felt throbbed throughout his biceps and he glanced down to see a dismembered head cradled in his arms.

He all but hurled it away and it tumbled partway down the aisle. The skullpaint that adorned the alluring face confirmed that the corpse was Marcelo's.

In the place Lucifer had once occupied, he saw Lara in a gown the color of blood. She nodded at him.

"Per angusta in augusta," he heard her voice though her lips did not move. 

She approached him and he was screwed to the spot. When she reached Marcelo's severed head, she gracefully fell to her knees and gathered it in her arms. She held it firmly to her stomach and peered up at him.

"Omnes una manet nox," he heard her voice again.

"The same night awaits us all," Marcelo whispered from behind him.

When he swiveled around to look, his eyes blinked open on the sleeping, lightly snoring body of Marcelo. In the waking world, the Anti-Pope was naked with a black sheet tangled around his torso.

The softest tickling sensation brushed against his bare chest and he looked down to see Lara burrowed close. Her eyelashes occasionally swept along his skin. A sheen of sweat covered them both. He pushed damp strands of hair from her brow. Throbbing behind his eyes made him regret drinking so much, though he couldn't recall exactly how many deep he had been.

A pale hand crawled towards them from the other side of the bed. Marcelo feigned sleep even as it moved along Lara's waist. His fingers wove through her long hair and drew a swath to his paint-streaked face. He inhaled and kissed the strands before opening his eyes. 

"She'll attend me today, Eminence," he informed Copia. The morning had arrived and his little game with their names was done. "I would like to understand how your abbey embraces its fledgling members. That is assuming you don't fuck each one of them."

Emeritus sat up and scrubbed his face. Paint smeared across his hands.

"Should I respond to that, Your Unholiness?" Copia asked, brimming with sarcasm.

"Maybe your numbers would go up if you did," Emeritus laughed.

He stared at the paint on his hands.

"You know, I fucking hate this shit." He wiped his palms on the bed and pushed himself to his feet. "But, traditions…" he threw a dismissive hand in the air and walked into the bathroom. 

The shower sounded and Copia turned his attention to the sleeping young woman in his arms. He roused her and she peeked at him through bleary eyes.

“My head hurts,” Sister Lucia said, rubbing her temple. “Is it time for me to return to the abbey?”

“It is, but his Unholiness has requested that you assist him today. He’ll want you to be his shadow.”

“Doesn’t he have enough ghouls for that?” She joked.

Copia covered her mouth with his hand and stifled a laugh.

“He can be unpredictable, I’m not sure you could get away with asking him that.”

“Will you be with us?”

“If I’m required, but I have a feeling he’ll dismiss me.”

Lucia debated whether or not to tell him what was on her mind. If perhaps he knew that Mother Perfidia had forbidden her to go near the Anti-pope.

“Mother Perfidia asked me to avoid his Unholiness before his arrival. She may have suggested that I would embarrass you.”

Copia brows furrowed. “I would wager that our Dark Father favors me and our sect more than ever after last night.”

“I tried to be obedient, but—”

“Of course you did,” Copia whispered. “Marcelo will always have his way. If she is upset at the sight of you attending him, I will make it right.”

“You would do that for me?” She smiled, a blush filling her cheeks.

“I would do obscene and unmentionable things for you,” he breathed in her ear. “And to you, of course.”

His words delighted her, she felt seen and special to him. Though the moment would be over soon and a pit in her stomach grew wondering how they would proceed. She did not particularly want the previous night to be known to others.

“Is this a secret?” She asked, touching Copia’s chest.

“Would you like that? Our secret?” He kissed her forehead as she nodded. "Are you ashamed?"

She shook her head furiously.

"No, but I covet privacy and very much enjoy the idea of a secret that is between us and the Dark Lord alone."

"And your Papa, of course," Emeritus added as he exited the bathroom. "An exhibitionist I may be, but if you do not wish me to announce our ritual during breakfast, I will refrain."

Lucia's eyes widened, and Emeritus laughed.

"I had no such plans. As you said, between us and the Dark Lord." Emeritus clapped his hands once and to Lucia's horror a ghoul stepped out from behind an antique Victorian folding screen. "And a ghoul or two perhaps."

She watched the ghoul go to work dressing Emeritus for the day. The ghoul was the bastard that had tripped Sister Invidia with his tail.

Copia sat at the side of the bed and reached for his trousers. He stood, collecting the rest of the discarded clothing and offered Lucia her gown. He pulled his trousers on as the gown fell over her head.

The ghoul had nearly finished buttoning Emeritus' suit when the Anti-Pope spoke.

"Sister Lucia, my ghoul will escort you back to your room in the abbey, and when you have dressed yourself, he will bring you back to me for breakfast. Though I will hate to see you in anything aside from that gown." He licked his lips while his eyes took an extended moment to rove her form.

"Copia has agreed to let me borrow you from your duties today. I will have a tour of the abbey as you see it, not as my mother paints it. We'll take a stroll after morning mass," Emeritus told her. His voice and manner took on the authority of his position.

Lucia bowed. "I would be delighted to assist you, Your Unholiness."

After a sharp knock on the door, a second ghoul entered the room and took over dressing Emeritus without a word. The ghoul who tripped Invidia stalked toward Lucia and offered his arm.

She took it reluctantly and glanced at Copia. He grasped her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles as the ghoul spirited her away. Copia stared at Emeritus, wondering about his plans in the sobriety of morning.

Emeritus smirked at him. "Did you enjoy yourself last night, Eminence?"

"It was unexpected, I will admit that," Copia replied.

"Unexpected?" Emeritus made a 'tsk' sound with his tongue. "Was it unexpected when you came in her hot, tight cunt?"

Copia cleared his throat. "No, I meant the prospect of us having a private dinner and then the luring of a young woman to my home under false pretenses. I illustrated my interest in Sister Lucia very clearly-"

"And I gave her to you on a fucking platter. I admit to my greed in wanting a taste for myself, but you plucked the fruit. You had the first bite, which I could have taken readily." Emeritus' tone had soured and he narrowed his eyes at Copia.

He hated to back down, but Copia nodded in mock understanding.

"You should go now and prepare for the day, Cardinal," Emeritus dismissed him.

Copia left without another word and prayed to Lucifer that the day ahead would be an uneventful one.

\---

The ghoul moved so quickly across the grounds he was nearly dragging Sister Lucia back to the abbey. She tried to keep pace, but was too afraid to ask him to stop. He had maimed Invidia before the congregation and she was apprehensive of what he might do to a Sister in private.

When they entered the dormitories, the ghoul stopped and stared down at her.

"Lead the way, sister. I don't know where your room is," his English was perfect and barely held an accent.

She smiled politely and continued up the stairs to the third floor. After a few turns, they made their way down a lengthy hallway to her quarters.

"Thank you for escorting me, and I apologize for the trek," Sister Lucia said while opening the door.

"It was my pleasure, sister," he replied. Then he proceeded to follow her into the room. He closed and locked it behind him.

"I need to change, but I'll be very fast… if you'd care to wait outside?" She hinted, hoping he would go.

"It would draw unnecessary attention if any other siblings saw one of Papa's ghouls waiting outside your door. One would not want any tongues wagging," he reasoned. "Besides, there is nothing you could uncover that I did not see last night."

Embarrassment that was swiftly usurped by fear tore through her as the ghoul stared at her. She stood at the center of the room, unmoving.

"Strip!" He ordered fiercely. His fist slammed against the wardrobe to his right.

Sister Lucia jumped in surprise and began to tremble. She pulled her coat tightly closed.

The ghoul crossed to her and took hold of her hands.

"Would you rather have me do it for you?" He threatened.

She shook her head and began unbuttoning her coat. He stepped back and leaned against the door, leering at her. The coat slid from her shoulders to the floor and she rucked the dress high on her hips. She hesitated.

"Let's see that birthmark on your ribs, don't be shy," the ghoul taunted her.

She tugged the dress off with a sigh of disgust and pulled on the habit lying on her bed faster than she ever had before. After brushing her hair she looked at the ghoul.

"I'll need to wash my face and brush my teeth in the lavatory and then I'll be ready," she told him.

He unlocked the door, holding it open for her. When she passed him, she felt his slim fingers sink into her hair and take hold of the base of her neck. It was tight, but not quite rough.

"If I'm a good little servant, perhaps Papa will let me do more than watch tonight," he hissed at her.

She was about to pull away when there was a flurry of movement. The hand left her neck and she was knocked forward on her knees. A loud "thwump" sound of a body pounding against another body echoed down the corridor. Lucia looked up to see the massive ghoul who had warned her about Papa pinning the offending ghoul to the stone wall.

"Ea est divinum! Non propter vos!" The large ghoul growled. He thumped the smaller ghoul hard against the solid wall as emphasis. His eyes rolled in his head as he struggled to fight back. 

The bastard surely deserved it, but she was wary of Papa's reaction to one of Copia's ghouls beating one of his own to death.

"Stop! Put him down or Papa will have your head!" She commanded.

When the large ghoul stopped, she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you, but you should make yourself scarce now, my friend. I will see to him."

The ghoul nodded and then seemed to vanish as curiously as he appeared. Lucia kneeled down next to the ghoul collapsed on the floor. He was heaving for breath.

"Are you all right?" She asked him and glanced down the hall to see if anyone heard the commotion.

"I wouldn't have hurt you," he said in a distant voice. He kept his head down.

"Let's get you up and head to the dining hall, but please–" She was about to ask him not to tell Papa what the other ghoul had done when he interrupted her.

"Don't tell Papa about this, I beg you," he whispered desperately. "I shouldn't have touched you, I'm… I'm sorry."

Lucia was happily surprised. The large ghoul had beaten some sense into him.

"I'm not a vengeful soul," she assured him and watched as he pushed himself to his feet. He did not accept her hand when she held it out to him.

"Mother of mercy," he began and extended his elbow, "I will deliver you."

\---

When they entered Copia's office, Papa and the Cardinal were waiting inside. Emeritus was standing at the window, watching a dismal rain that had begun to pour outside. Copia was near the fireplace, in the same spot he had been when Lucia had burst in the previous day.

She felt an urge to go to him, but planted herself just inside the door.

"Your Sister as requested, Unholy Father," the ghoul announced and then slunk into the shadows of the room.

"Welcome," Emeritus said and walked to the desk. He gripped the back of the leather desk chair and looked her over. "I thought you were in some great rush yesterday, but you do not wear your veil?"

"No, Unholiness," she replied.

He smirked. "Whyever not?"

"It brings me no pleasure and is not a requirement," she answered semi-truthfully.

"That is good enough, but I think not quite true," Emeritus challenged her. "I encourage individuality and new ideas, so feel free to be honest with me."

"It is a strange conformity that contradicts our religion's teachings and the mockery of it seems to me… well… petulant," she answered truthfully.

Copia was surprised by her thoughts on the divine mockery.

Emeritus looked down at himself.

"Do you find my attire… petulant?" He asked thoughtfully.

Copia swallowed, worried that Emeritus had taken offense.

"Not at all, Unholiness. Your attire represents balance, not mockery. You are the divine darkness and should be draped in decadent raiment." When finished Lucia bowed her head demurely.

Emeritus licked his lips. "Mmm, you can surely stroke an ego, cara."

The door opened suddenly and Mother Perfidia and Sister Imperator entered. Perfidia froze when she saw Lucia.

"Sister Lucia, you should be in the kitchens with the other sisters," Perfidia snapped. "Get down there at once!"

Lucia moved to go, she had heeded Perfidia since infancy and did not question it.

"You will forgive me, but I am borrowing this Sister today,” Emeritus explained.

Perfidia stepped in front of Lucia. “She will send someone else when she reaches the kitchens. A sister who has served you before.” Perfidia looked back at Lucia with soft eyes. It became clear that she knew Emeritus was the cause of her disobedience. “You’ve always been fond of Sister Dominus, she could attend you.”

Emeritus stepped out from behind the desk slowly. He stared at his mother from narrowed eyes under heavy brows.

“Do you defy me?” He asked flatly.

Perfidia stole a glance at Sister Imperator. Lucia saw a nearly imperceivable shake of her head.

“Of course not, my son,” Perfidia quickly recovered, “I thought you might appreciate a sister with more experience in the Ministry. Do as thou wilt.” She bowed her head to him in deference.

“Yes, I intend to,” he sneered.

“Enough of this nonsense, Unholiness. You must be starving, I know I am,” Sister Imperator announced and slid her arm into Emeritus’. “Lead an old sinner to breakfast?”

Emeritus nodded and led them all to the door off of the dining hall. When everyone had turned away from her, Lucia looked at Copia, who threw his hands up and mouthed “I don’t know” at the curiosity in her gaze. They trailed behind the others and Copia reached back to briefly take her hand. When his fingers slipped away she bowed her head and assumed her role of attendant.

The assembled clergy stood for the members of the high table and waited for Emeritus to recite a quick prayer before everyone was seated. Lucia studied the console table and began serving Emeritus his breakfast. She poured his water and coffee before bringing him a cornetto con crema. When she set it before him, she made to move away, but he raised a hand to stop her.

“Tell me, Sister Lucia. Does the kitchen make these every morning?” He asked.

“No, Unholiness. Mother Perfidia requested them for your pleasure,” she answered.

Emeritus smiled at his mother, who sat beside him.

“What do you usually eat for breakfast, Sister Lucia?” He wondered. His hand moved to hover just behind the small of her back.

“A single over medium egg with hot sauce,” she replied immediately.

He chuckled heartily and Lucia smiled.

“I will try that tomorrow. Uovo alla Lucia,” he quipped and his hand caressed her back. Though the congregation could not see it, everyone seated at the high table noticed immediately.

Sister Imperator's arm motioned wide and a carafe of water flooded over the table. As it surged over the edge, Emeritus moved back. The skirts of his robe were soaked.

"Oh, I'm such a clumsy thing," Imperator chastised herself. "Forgive me, Papa?"

"Yes, yes," he muttered gruffly and stood. He shook the excess water from his robe and turned to Lucia. "Assist me in the sacristy, sister."

She nodded and followed as he sped from the room. Lucia looked for a ghoul, who would generally help in such a situation, but found none.

When the door was closed, he whirled around.

"Imperator likes to think she can make me look a fool, but it only paints her as senile. If she wasn't a distraction for my father, I would be rid of her," Emeritus seethed.

"I'm sure it was an accident, Unholiness," Lucia reasoned.

Emeritus scoffed. "She would see me ruined, like my brothers."

"You are most beloved by the church, it would not stand," she assured him.

Emeritus grinned. "You are too sweet," he said. He moved close enough to stroke her cheek. He set his mitre down on a dresser then spoke. "Now remove my robe."

She knelt down and gathered the wet fabric, careful not to let it touch the Anti-Pope. Gingerly, she brought it up and over his head.

He wore a fine, black, loose-fitting suit beneath.

"Do I still look decadent?" He questioned.

"Yes, Unholy Father."

"I will conduct mass in my suit then. What do you think?” He struck a defiant pose and winked at her.

“The congregation will fawn over you more than they already do. There is an approachable quality to the Papa before me. A Papa who would stand beside his parishioners and not above them,” she responded thoughtfully.

His jaw dropped.

“You are a smart child.” Emeritus wagged a finger at her. “What else would an approachable Papa do?”

Lucia bit her lip and wracked her brain.

“He would not stand behind a pulpit, or read from any notes. He would walk the aisles, reach out to his congregation. He would…” she had been enthusiastic, but then paused.

Emeritus raised his brows. “Yes?”

“At the end of mass, you could lead them in a song, Unholiness. If it pleases you, of course,” she amended. “They all adore He Is.”

He stared down as he considered this and a massive grin spread over his features.

“I will do it – all of it. An experiment and you will be my co-conspirator. Imperator will be furious and I will be masterful!” He exclaimed and took her by the shoulders. Emeritus leaned down to kiss her and Lucia turned her face away as the door to the sacristy opened.

“Cardinal, your newest sibling is full of wonderful ideas. This will be a mass to remember,” Emeritus was saying before Copia even had a chance to enter the room.

Copia watched Emeritus’ hands slide from Lucia’s shoulders to grip her hands. He brought them to his lips. “Beautiful, brilliant girl,” Emeritus praised before releasing them. He went to peer out at the chapel, memorizing the layout and calling for a ghoul trolling the aisles.

“What did you tell him to do?” Copia asked Lucia while the Anti-pope’s attention was elsewhere.

“What you do, and…”

“...And?” Copia urged.

“I suggested he should sing at the end of mass.”

Copia saw Emeritus gesture toward the chapel and quietly instruct a ghoul from his retinue. His spirits plummeted. How could he follow such a performance once Emeritus returned to his own church? Could he ever live up to the comparison that his congregation would inevitably level against him?

A delicate hand slid into his.

“Yours will be his favorite sect by the time he returns home, Eminence,” Lucia assured him softly when she saw his face drained of color. “Consider what you might achieve with the ear and friendship of our Papa.”

They shared a smile and waited for Emeritus to finish speaking with his ghoul.

When he was satisfied, the Anti-Pope rejoined them.

"Sister Lucia, please be a dear and fetch me my coffee and cornetto?" Emeritus requested immediately.

Lucia bowed and followed his orders.

"Obedient creature. Such… sass from so many other siblings, it is a welcome change," Emeritus told Copia.

"Failure of other faiths and rebellion did not drive her here. She has known Satan from birth and understands his great duality." Copia had meant to agree, but he saw Emeritus frown.

"Born into this dark madness… like us…" Emeritus whispered as Lucia returned.

He took the cornetto from a plate she held and then the mug. After a few steps, he settled in from the large mirror on the wall. A small, but noticeable web of cracks laid in the center.

"If you need anything else, please ask, Unholiness," she said politely.

He tore a bite from the end of the pastry and followed with a swig of black coffee. His gloved finger swept over the longest vertical crack in the mirror.

"May I ask you something, Papa?" Lucia wondered suddenly.

He nodded, mouth full of cornetto.

"Do you ever feel nervous in front of so many people?"

Emeritus looked at Copia and back to Lucia. His head moved side-to-side in contemplation.

"I want my parishioners, my audience to be happy. Every time I feel concerned that I will not please them beforehand. Then I step out in front of them and every time it feels like…" He shot her a wolfish grin. "It feels like the first time. There is anxiety, but also anticipation. I want to feel good and bring pleasure to everyone. It may take time to warm up, but eventually I reach out and feel the acceptance. There is nothing as intoxicating, isn't that right, Cardinal?"

Copia had been watching Emeritus stroke the crack in the mirror and he fumbled over his response. He recalled precisely what had caused the imperfection. A memory of Emeritus' head beating against the glass flashed through his mind.

"Yes, of course," is what eventually came out.

"You know, my mother will tell you to replace this glass, but I think it has character – it tells a story, no?" Emeritus changed the subject.

Copia swallowed, wondering what he might reveal. He was not a monogamous man, nor had he forgotten what had occurred between the three of them the previous night. However, he did not want Lucia to believe that he had planned the night before or used her to put himself into Emeritus' good graces.

"It could shatter," Copia said in regards to the mirror.

Emeritus shrugged and pressed harder. A jagged crack splintered upward. "Someone else would clean it up."

A ghoul poked his head in from the chapel door.

"Unholiness, they are gathering," he called and disappeared again.

"It is time. Please, go ahead and seat yourselves. I will enter soon," Emeritus instructed.

They did as he asked and when they entered the chapel Lucia noticed several eyes on her. It was unusual for anyone but the Cardinal or visiting clergy members to enter the chapel through the sacristy. The questioning glances shared between siblings assured her that she would answer to rumors later.

Copia slid smoothly into the front pew next to Mother Perfidia and Lucia took a seat between him and Sister Imperator.

"I hope our Unholy Father is not proving too difficult, my dear," Imperator said in a low voice.

"No, sister. I am glad to be of service," Lucia assured her.

The door to the sacristy opened once more and Papa Emeritus III strode out in his elegant black suit. He examined the crowd as he made his way to where the pulpit had once stood. Where previously the congregation had applauded, they were strangely quiet. Seeing their Papa out of robes during mass had shocked them more than Lucia had anticipated.

"I would like to share something with all of you on this dark and damp morning," Papa announced with a sweep of his arm over the assembly. "I would like to share with you… my fears."

He paused for effect and heard whispers from the pews.

"And I assure you, I do have them. Am I a strong leader? Am I a good Papa? Does my church adore me as much as I adore them?" 

"I love you, Papa!" A voice shouted from the congregation and there were murmurs of agreement.

Papa blew a kiss in the direction of the voice.

"I also fear that I am not serving our Dark Lord to my fullest potential. Could I have sinned more BEFORE bed? Could I have sinned more IN bed?" The assembly laughed and Emeritus began moving down the aisle as he spoke.

"Like so many of you, I am filled with fears and anxieties. They linger in darkness together, all of our uncertainties. That darkness which unites us all." Emeritus began reaching out to the assembly. Touching a shoulder, caressing a cheek, holding a hand.

"There is comfort in knowing we are all in darkness. Whatever desperation you may feel, all you must do is reach out and our Dark Lord will be waiting to embrace you. Lucifer and all of his children will enfold you into their arms. Fear, anxiety, uncertainty – these things make us human. They should serve as reminders of the free will that Lucifer bestowed upon us. Our souls are forever originated in his dark love."

As she listened, Lucia remembered what Sister Dominus had told her the previous day. She was entranced by Emeritus and she felt that she couldn't pry her eyes away if she wanted to. His sermon continued and he extrapolated on what it truly meant to be a child of Satan. Then he explained that there was no one answer, that each sibling has their own meaning and purpose.

When he started his way back up to the altar, Lucia sensed that he was preparing to sing.

“Please, rise, my brothers and sisters.” Emeritus motioned up with his hands, imploring the congregation. As they stood, another murmur wove through the pews. He had not yet recited the closing prayer or offered Unholy Communion. Were they being excused without it?

Emeritus began without hesitation and his voice carried clearly throughout the chapel. Lucia saw his right hand begin to shake minutely as he finished the second line of the song.

She joined him on the third line, singing as loudly as she could. Copia had joined at the same moment. More and more members sang out as the song continued and soon the room was filled with voices. Lucia beamed while glancing over the ecstatic congregation. They were infatuated with Emeritus. 

Unnoticed, Copia was staring down at her, drinking in the beauty of her awe. 

When the song came to a close, the grand applause from the previous day returned. Emeritus bowed and said the closing prayer over continued ovation. He offered Unholy Communion and the entire congregation queued.

The ghoul that had escorted her approached Lucia.

"The Unholy Father requests your assistance with Communion," he informed her and brought her before Emeritus.

She did as requested and poured wine as Papa pressed wafers into mouths.

When Dominus reached them, she gave Lucia an excited smile and raised her eyebrows in Papa's direction.

After the congregation had been seen to, the Cardinal received Communion and then it was Lucia's turn.

She moved before Emeritus and he took up a wafer. Lucia opened her mouth to receive it.

"Body of Christ," he recited and slid wafer into her mouth. He inserted his thumb deeper than necessary and withdrew it lazily. Lucia was slightly stunned.

"I–I devour and desecrate. Nema," she managed. 

The chapel was emptying and it seemed that no one had noticed. However, when Lucia turned from him, she glimpsed an onlooker. In Sister Imperator's eyes, Lucia saw pure hatred as she glared at Emeritus.

"Let us have our walk around the grounds now, sister," Emeritus said from behind her. Imperator's eyes shifted toward her and grew soft.

"I would like to see the grounds as well, Your Unholiness," Imperator told him as she approached. "Papa Nihil will very much appreciate a report on the status of the abbey."

Emeritus clenched his fist.

"My mother can escort you. Sister Lucia will be my guide, and I would like a private tour. Or perhaps the Cardinal would show you to the library or to the crypts." Emeritus looked to Copia, who nodded his agreement.

Emeritus' expression seemed to dare her to confront him, but she pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Of course, Your Unholiness," she grit out.

Emeritus turned on his heel and with a flick of his wrist beckoned Lucia out of the abbey.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emeritus reveals more of himself to Sister Lucia than she is ready to learn. Copia spends a moment with Sister Imperator. The clergy shares a night with each other.

Outside the rain had stopped, but the sky remained an abysmal gray. The ghoul who had escorted Lucia to her room trailed a ways behind her and Emeritus.

She chose to show him the cloister first, which was one of her favorite places in the abbey. Beautiful gothic architecture married with open air and nature. Stone benches ran along the outside of the square. The leaves of two willow trees swayed in the wind.

"When the weather is fair, our cloister is perfection. I hope you will see it tomorrow," Lucia told him.

"Do you have many memories here?" Emeritus wondered.

"Countless! I love this place, but it's funny… the first memory that I thought of was falling out of that willow tree." She pointed to the larger of the two on the right.

"I climbed higher than all of the other students in the academy. I should have been afraid, but I was just so excited to prove that I could do what they couldn't." Lucia shrugged. "And then I fell. My left arm took the brunt of it. The Cardinal was there in an instant, carrying me to the infirmary. I was in so much pain I was delirious. I shouted that I wanted him, but I was already in his arms."

"Were you often lonely as a child?" He asked.

"Until the academy, yes. That was the first time I had been around children my age. My companions have often been clergy members," she paused. "I never had a family, and I do find myself wondering who they are. I wonder if they would want me if I reached out. I imagine my mother as a young woman who was trying to do the right thing for a child she couldn't care for. I pray for her every night, that Lucifer is caring for her and watching over her." Lucia felt she had shared too much and grew quiet.

"Your family does want you, cara. You have your family here in the abbey. Your true family," he told her and began walking around the cloister. "I have two brothers and we are distant toward each other at best and fratricidal at worst. We have our moments, they have taught me many things. Some things by example and others by force. Our father was strict and authoritative, pitting us against each other until it was too late to undo what had been done."

After a turn, Lucia led him out of the cloister towards the orchard.

"I am afraid, Sister Lucia," Emeritus stopped as he said this. The fear was clear in his tone. "It wasn't for the crowd, I am afraid that the same fate that befell my brothers awaits me. If Dario and Fausto could not succeed, what chance do I have?"

Lucia was honored and shocked that he would reveal this to her. They had shared the previous night, but he by no means knew her.

"I am sorry, Papa. I wish I could help you," she admitted. She glanced back and saw the ghoul maintained a fair distance.

"Imperator conspired against them, she has some hatred for my father and our family that he can't see. She bewitched him, and now he is letting her move us around like pawns." Emeritus had shifted into a somewhat manic state.

"You are Lucifer's Darkness made flesh, not a pawn," Lucia assured him. She gently touched his arm, hoping it provided some comfort.

"You would help me, even if it were in some small way. Wouldn't you?" He asked as he placed his gloved hand over hers.

"I am your servant, Unholy Father."

“I loathe to say it, but I suspect my mother is in league with Imperator. I have seen them whispering, making attempts to go against my wishes. When I saw the Cardinal in my dream, I knew I had to come here. Imperator did everything she could to prevent me from making the journey. In a last gasp attempt at control over me, she forced her way along.” Emeritus took her arm and folded it into his. They continued toward the orchard. “The Dark Lord has intentions for us, Sister Lucia. Imperator and my mother mean to upend them.”

Lucia braved a glance at him.

“What intentions, Unholiness? I have told you the dreams He sends to me, but you must know so much more than I do.”

“He has told me that you will help secure my position,” Emeritus explained.

“How could I do that?” She asked in surprise.

He smiled down at her, something guarded hidden in his eyes.

“I must ask you to be observant of my mother… and Sister Imperator should you come into contact with her,” Emeritus instructed her as he plucked an apple from the tree beside them. “If you hear anything in regards to my papacy, I would like to know.”

Lucia bit her lip hard and Emeritus placed the shining fruit in her hand.

“You would like me to spy on the woman who raised me? After calling her my family?” She clarified in an emotionless voice.

“I am not asking you to harm anyone, only to keep your Papa apprised of any information that could threaten him.” He stood before her and brushed stray hairs behind her ear.

“Of course I don’t want any harm to come to you, but–” Lucia began.

“You would do it for your Cardinal, wouldn’t you? If he stood here and asked you to keep an eye on my mother, you would do it without hesitation.”

Lucia nodded and Emeritus took her face in his hands.

“I am your Unholy Father and I need you to do this for me. I fear for my life as well as my position. It is only a small favor, not an order,” he assured her.

“A secret?” She questioned softly.

“Yes, you like secrets, don’t you? It feels powerful to know more than others. If you keep this one well, the two of us can share so many more secrets.” He leaned in close and whispered, “I have so many that you would like to know. Perhaps there are ways to uncover your past.”

After taking a deep breath, Lucia nodded. She didn’t know if she could do it, but to refuse him would be foolish.

“Yes?!” He exclaimed and she nodded again.

Emeritus kissed her unexpectedly. The apple fell from her hand as she gripped his wrists on either side of her face. Her first instinct was to break away, but she feared his anger and the proximity of his ghoul. He held her firmly, pulling her in close to his body. It was beginning to rain again and she could admit that his warmth was preferable to the sting of the wind. When she realized it would be a lengthy embrace, she closed her eyes and imagined someone else holding her.

Eventually, he released her and stroked her cheek with a golden fingernail.

“Is there anything that I might do for you?” He wondered, somewhat breathless.

Her eyes flashed toward the ghoul.

“Your ghoul,” she breathed, “He tripped Sister Invidia yesterday.”

Emeritus looked back toward the mischievous creature.

“Ah, yes, Imperator brought that to my attention. I am going to deal with him when we return to Rome. You see, it will be difficult for me. He was the first ghoul I summoned and I will hate to see him go. I call him Alpha,” Emeritus revealed.

“It’s forbidden to give them names,” Lucia gasped. She wondered if that was the reason he had become so willful. There was power in a name.

“The very nature of our church is to seek out the forbidden. To set down rules is begging for them to be disregarded. Do you know how the outside world would view what we did last night? They would condemn it. But we seek out pleasure where we can find it, and the more taboo and forbidden, the more delicious."

She heard a sharp crunch from behind her and saw that the ghoul had closed the distance and picked up the apple she had dropped. He had lifted his mask to eat and she saw his horrible fangs.

Lucia trembled against Emeritus.

"He won't hurt you, he obeys me. Don't you, Alpha?" Emeritus prompted.

Alpha spiked the apple at the ground and nodded.

"Would you hurt this dear sister?"

"Not this one," Alpha retorted. His tail flicked in her direction. "I mean, I brought her to you safe and sound earlier, Unholy Father."

"Yes, you did well. I'll take that into account when we return to Rome."

"Is she coming too? Ea est divinum and all–" Alpha was interrupted by the thundering clap of Papa backhanding the side of his head. He struck him so hard the ghoul nearly fell.

“You know nothing!” Papa growled dangerously and raised his hand again. “Stronzo inutile!”

Lucia grabbed his arm and restrained him with all of her might.

“Papa, he’s only repeating some nonsense a mad ghoul in the abbey told him earlier! A stupid joke! He doesn’t know what he’s saying! I am not divine! You are divine, the only divine one. We all know that.” Words of appeasement flowed from her lips, and she felt the tension going out of Emeritus’ arm.

She knelt down next to the ghoul for the second time that day and partially shielded him from Emeritus. Alpha cowered and Lucia tried to comfort him.

“Shh, you’ll be alright,” she soothed.

He stared at her with eyes of blazing blue fire.

“But you won’t,” he hissed under his breath.

“Don’t get yourself into more trouble, please?” She realized that she pitied him, perhaps all of the ghouls for what they endured in servitude.

“Leave him, sister. We’re going back inside. Let him lick his wounds.”

Lucia staggered up to her feet and followed Emeritus without another word. As they approached the chapter house, she watched him breath deeply. His prior wrath calmed and he collected himself.

“Forgive me my outburst, sister. I am not prone to violence, but he chose a time when my nerves were frayed to test me. Even if it was clearly nonsense, like you said. And–and he was on thin ice after harming that poor sister,” Emeritus explained himself.

She nodded, but decided internally not to forgive him so readily. He put a heavy hand on her shoulder.

“Though I do wonder, which one of your abbey’s ghouls told him you were divine?” He asked the question flippantly, but it was clear to Lucia that he was desperate for the information and that perhaps it was not as silly as she previously thought. She was certainly not one of Satan's divine children, but Emeritus seemed angry that someone had claimed so.

“I don’t know,” she lied, “They’re all so similar looking, I can never tell them apart.”

“Yes, and they can hardly be trusted, can they? Tripping people and spouting madness." He studied her carefully, waiting for the right answer.

“Yes, Papa.”

“Good, good," he said as they entered the church. "Let us see if we can't find the Cardinal."

\---

"He's taken quite an interest in your newest sister," Imperator commented to Copia as they walked through the stacks in the library.

"She is young and beautiful, I would be more concerned if he hadn't," Copia responded.

"Still, I think it might be best to make sure he finds comfort with other siblings of sin during his stay," Imperator told him this as she tilted a large, illuminated script out of a bookshelf.

Copia's mind raced with the previous night's events and he swallowed nervously.

"Heh… Do you intend that I should keep them apart?" He asked with a hint of a laugh.

Imperator rounded on him.

"If you know what's good for you, Giacomo," she said seriously.

"If it is their will, it would not be my place to stop them," he reasoned.

Imperator tutted at him.

"Gentle boy, sometimes you must fight for what you want. Your desires will slip through your fingers if you don't have the sense to seize them," Imperator advised sagely.

Copia looked up and down the aisles.

"Am I that fucking transparent?" He groaned.

"I thought you were going to tackle him for his extra offering during Unholy Communion," she laughed.

Imperator had always been a confidante of his and he considered telling her that he and Emeritus had both gotten what they wanted. Perhaps he would have, if she had not just directly instructed him to keep them apart.

"How quickly do you think one could be excommunicated… if one tackled our leader, I mean?" Copia joked.

"One would be banned from the church before that little brat hit the ground," she answered truthfully.

They laughed together and Imperator smiled at him.

"You will do so many great things for our Ministry. In my heart I know that you will elevate all of us and our Dark Lord." She pointed a finger at him. "But you will need to be strong."

Copia took her hand reverently and held it to his chest.

"I will be everything that is required of me and more, dear sister," he promised her.

She pressed a kiss to his forehead and pulled away.

"Let's return to your office and see if our Papa has finished his tour."

\---

They found Emeritus silently sipping coffee while Lucia read aloud passages from LaVey's Satanic Bible. It was not particularly in accordance with their Ministry's teachings, but it was pleasant enough for light reading.

"Condones–" Lucia stopped reading as Imperator and Copia entered.

"Go on, I could listen to you read all day," Emeritus urged, then motioned the others in.

Lucia had read ahead and continued awkwardly. "Any... any type of sexual activity which properly satisfies your individual desires- be it heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even asexual, if you choose. Satanism also sanctions any fetish or deviation which will enhance your sex-life, so long as it involves no one who does not wish to be involved."

Emeritus beamed at the tension the passage had created.

"Well, he got a few things right." Emeritus clapped his hands as he stood. "Didn't he, Cardinal?" The Anti-Pope puckered his lips at Copia.

"I suppose," Copia conceded.

"Perhaps tonight's mass should be about perversions. That will titillate the clergy enough I think," Emeritus thought aloud.

"I'm sure they would be delighted," Imperator patronized him.

While Emeritus spoke of his plans, Lucia stared at Copia. He saw distress in her features and felt a pang in his chest. She folded her hands into her habit and they stayed quiet until Mother Perfidia arrived to tell them lunch was served.

Again, Lucia served Emeritus during the meal and took a chance to bring Copia a refill of water.

"Something is wrong with Papa," she whispered quickly. "He was acting strange and he hit one of his ghouls. I'm worried about him."

Copia looked shocked. "We'll have to speak after evening mass."

Lucia nodded and hurried back over to serve Emeritus. After lunch, he gave her leave until mass.

She went back to her room and climbed into her bed. In the moment it had been easy to forget how exhausted she was. Being busy had also helped distract from the soreness between her legs.

Her thoughts returned to Papa at the orchard. He had been so frantic and fearful. She understood his concern, but he seemed more paranoid than certain concerning his mother's involvement in some nefarious plot against him.

The night before he had been so confident and sure. He was strong and commanding. Whatever was able to shake his sensibilities frightened her.

She said a short prayer to Lucifer for him and closed her eyes for a few hours.

A heavy knocking on her door roused her.

It opened on one of Papa's ghouls that she did not recognize.

"Where is Alpha?" She asked reflexively.

The ghoul hung his head.

"My brother was unsummoned to the Pit an hour ago," he muttered in a heavy accent.

"I'm sorry," was all Lucia could think to say.

"He dug his own grave… but I will miss him. We must go, Papa expects you in the front row for mass." The ghoul led her to the chapel and escorted her to a seat in the front next to Copia.

As she sat down, she felt a hand slip under her. She gave Copia a sly look, but he stared ahead nonchalantly. He gave her ass a small squeeze when she turned away.

They didn't wait long for Emeritus to make his entrance. He bounded out to applause, once again donning his fine suit.

He greeted the congregation and introduced the night's theme. Giggles and whispers spurred when he said the word perversions. Everyone appeared to be as excited about the topic as he had anticipated.

"Many practices once considered perversions are now commonplace," Emeritus stated. "Where some see deviation, we explore freedom in our Ministry. There is so much beauty and pleasure to be discovered in sexual exploration. An open mind can be the most powerful aphrodisiac. So I encourage you to ask for a spanking! Whisper some filthy shit in his ear! Three is not a crowd!"

He was calling out and the clergy was cheering him on. 

"Now, unfortunately, there was not enough time to arrange a sanctioned ritualistic orgy for tonight." The assembly grew mostly quiet at this, and a few members booed.

"However… your Papa has a feeling that this congregation may be able to pull something clandestine together!" He was shouting at the top of his lungs and the clergy went wild.

A select few remained in their seats, but the majority were on their feet, awaiting Papa's instructions.

"Eminence, am I correct in assuming you have an assembly room for such a purpose?" Emeritus called out to Copia.

"Of course, Your Unholiness!" He called back over the crowd.

"Make your way, brothers and sisters of sin! Carefully now, and I will be with you momentarily!" He instructed and then dashed back into the sacristy.

Lucia watched the excited clergy members file out of the doors. She had attended a few orgies, but had remained a voyeur.

"He could have warned us," Mother Perfidia said suddenly. Perfidia had not participated in many years, but it was expected that she would attend in a ceremonial capacity.

"Shall we?" Copia offered his hand to Lucia and they followed Perfidia and Imperator from the chapel.

Lucia was not sure if her newfound sexuality would make her bold enough to participate. She still enjoyed the idea of secrecy between her and Copia. This would annihilate any chance of that.

"I told you last night that you don't have to do anything you don't want to do," Copia reminded her under his breath.

They reached the assembly room which was decorated in sumptuous colors and fine fabrics. The floor was covered in plush carpets. Several chaise lounges and oversized ottomans were scattered throughout the room. Semi-secluded daybeds lined the outside of the large room, akin to cabanas. Black lacquered chests filled with devious instruments were placed strategically in each corner. A gallery for voyeurs surrounded the room from above.

A topless Sister Invidia curtsied to Copia as they entered. He offered a gentlemanly bow in return. Several siblings had already begun the festivities. Too eager to wait for Papa.

More people took notice of their Cardinal standing near the entrance with the newest sibling.

"Do as thou wilt!" He declared and those who had been holding back began the hunt.

Lucia watched as her fellow members encircled each other, languidly expressing their desires through the sway of their hips and heavily lidded eyes.

"May I?" The request for permission to touch flooded the room. Lucia had always watched from the gallery and the sudden realization that she may be approached terrified her.

A handsome and entirely nude Brother Claudio approached them first and reached for Lucia.

"No, thank you," she spouted before he could ask. He bowed respectfully and moved on.

"May I?" She heard Copia breath against her ear.

"Yes."

He moved behind her, nestling his face into her hair and neck. His hand smoothed over her stomach and he jerked her against his chest.

"What about–"

"Fuck secrets," he growled and claimed her lips in a rough kiss.

She could feel him growing hard against her lower back and she ground backward into him. When they broke their kiss for air, Lucia saw several stunned eyes upon them. Anxiety gripped her and she whirled in Copia's arms.

"They are all envious of my good fortune," Copia told her. He reached down to pull up the hem of her habit. "They must wonder what possessed you to choose such a nasty old man. I confess I wonder myself."

His gloved hand slid upward and found what he was searching for.

"Is it my gloves? You seem to like those, sweet girl."

Lucia rested her head on his chest as his fingers stroked her. She panted lightly, trying not to bring more attention their way.

"Is it my cock? Do like it when I get hard for you? Do you want me to let you have it again? I'll let you beg for it."

She moaned and leaned further into him.

"When I eat your dripping cunt, you fucking love it, don't you?" He assaulted her with obscene questions and she started to buck against his hand. "Answer me," he ordered.

"Yes, yes. I love it, all of it. I want all of it. I want all of you," she murmured in a string of somewhat intelligible words.

"Then I'll give it to you," he promised and two of his fingers sunk into her wet slit.

She gasped and held onto him. Her legs felt weak and she was worried she would collapse. He surprised her by sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her to a daybed draped in sheer black curtains. He wrenched them halfway shut and descended upon her.

Though Lucia kept the sounds of her pleasure quiet, the din of the other attendees permeated their enclosure. Lustful moans and wanton sighs filled the room. She saw the lascivious shapes of bodies shifting into one another through the mesh of the curtains.

"Undress me," Lucia told Copia, who was licking from the base of her neck to her ear.

He removed the stiletto he kept in his inside breast pocket, flicking it open rapidly.

Lucia drew a sharp breath and Copia watched as the skin on her forearms prickled. He closed his hand firmly around her throat and brought his face close enough to hers that their noses touched.

"Does the thought of something dangerous turn you on?" He rasped and squeezed her throat tighter. Her eyes disappeared into the back of her head and he had his answer.

The tip of the blade pricked into the fabric of her dress near her stomach and Copia made a show of bringing it up until tension caused the knife to cut through. He inserted the blade into the small hole he had made and drew it upwards slowly. It was sharp enough to slice through the heavy woven fabric like it was tissue paper.

Lucia watched him, with his hand still on her throat, and she rolled her hips.

“Don’t move!” He chastised her. He played it off as a show of dominance, but in truth he was terrified to knick her with the blade.

She laid still immediately and gave him a doe-eyed look of obedience.

“Good girl,” he praised. The thumb resting on her throat stroked lightly across her pale skin.

The stiletto cut finally through the hem of her neckline and rested above her clavicle.

“You have so much power over me, Eminence,” she whimpered breathlessly. “I’m entirely at your mercy.”

The very tip of the blade touched her skin and she stopped breathing. She had never entertained the thought that such a situation would be sexy. The anticipation sent involuntary shivers through her body that were somehow comprised of pleasure and fear. She wore no underwear and could feel her wetness on her inner thighs. The thought of how he would react to it had her drawing in a breath she momentarily forgot she needed.

Copia removed the knife and set it on a shelf beside them. He drew both hands down her throat and breasts before gripping both sides of her sheared dress and rending it entirely open.

Her chest heaved up and down and she writhed. He remained kneeling beside her and surveyed her naked body. She was desperate for him to touch her. When she reached for him, he pinned her right arm beside her head.

"Don't rush me now," he warned, wagging a finger.

"Or what?" She asked in defiance, raising an eyebrow.

The hand around her wrist moved into her hair and gripped tightly.

"We'll find out exactly how much pain you like with your pleasure." 

Lucia's hands flew to take hold of his offending hand and Copia's dove down to catch a nipple between his teeth. Her hips vaulted wildly and a cry of ecstasy left her at full volume. The sting of his teeth shot white hot bolts of pleasure directly between her legs. She abandoned the hand in her hair and caressed his head and shoulders.

He bit harder while tonguing the sensitive flesh and her cries grew louder, marrying with the sound of others throughout the room.

"Fuck, it hurts, but it's so fucking good!" She whined into his hair.

Without warning he stopped and moved to her other nipple and the pleasure and pain built up anew. Lucia started to think it might be enough to make her cum.

Through her panting and nonsensical outbursts, "I'm so fucking wet for you," slipped out clear as crystal and Copia broke away to glance down.

"Who are you wet for?" He demanded, fisting her hair tighter.

"You, sir! Eminence!" She called out, not quite sure what he wanted to hear.

He brought his mouth to her jaw and licked a wide path to her ear.

"Do you want to feel my tongue between your legs, pounding into that moist fuckhole that Satan put on this earth just for me?" He groaned and bit her earlobe gently.

She had lost all ability to form words and could only nod. Her body turned toward him, curling and bucking into him as close as she could get.

"You're a greedy, lustful, naughty girl," Copia continued to mutter. His free hand travelled down the center of her chest. "But I'm willing to forgive you if you're very, very good."

The sound of his zipper drawing down reached her ears and she froze. His hold on her hair lessened and he massaged her head.

"Do unto others, Sister Lucia," he said and placed her hand over the straining in his trousers. "Make your Cardinal proud."

She shifted onto her knees before him, mirroring his position and unfastened his black trousers. His mouth hung open while she reached in to unburden him. When he felt the smooth and warm little fingers around him he ran his tongue under his top row of teeth.

Ever so gently, she freed his cock and smoothed her hands over his length. Minding Emeritus' advice, she gripped him firmly. He was so soft and hard at the same time and she wanted him.

Lucia pressed herself against his chest and kissed his lips, his chin, his neck. His gloved hands grazed her back and dipped between her shoulder blades. She slithered down out of his arms and perched low on his thighs.

Her tongue flicked over the head of his cock and he gave a low grunt. She did it again, slowly. After a few more rogues licks, she sunk her mouth over the head and sucked deeply. Her tongue lapped at the underside and he jerked and groaned.

"More," he rasped. His hand tangled back into her golden hair.

While massaging his thigh with one hand, she supported the base of his rigid cock the other. Taking extra caution with her teeth, Lucia took him deeper into her mouth. He rocked his hips forward and she let her hand slip away. With another thrust she suppressed her urge to gag.

"Ah, Satan, yes… that's my good fucking girl…" he moaned and continued to thrust in increasingly harsh movements. She was slick and hot and each time his cock struck the back of her throat he wanted to fucking roar.

"Mhmm… You take it all so well. So fucking deep…" He offered more praise, petting her face gently.

She breathed through her nose and concentrated on his words. With every fiber of her being she wanted to please him.

Copia shocked her by tugging her head back. He slid out of her mouth and a string of saliva stretched between her lips and the head of his swollen cock.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked timidly,

He shook his head. "Turn around," he ordered.

Lucia turned on all fours and he pulled her hips and ass high in the air. He kept a hand holding her hair taut, like the reins of a horse.

A mirror on the wall above the daybed gave Lucia a view of Copia behind her and the room beyond.

She felt him slide the head of his cock through her wetness and rub it against her clit. He did it several times, staring into her eyes all the while.

"Beg for it!" He commanded.

"Fuck me!" She shouted. Watching herself beg sent more pleasure to her core.

"Again!" He released his cock and struck her ass hard.

"Fuck me!" She repeated. Her thighs shook in reaction to the strike.

He wrenched her hair back hard and pulled her against his chest.

"Convince me you deserve it, sweet girl," he said with his lips against her ear.

"I want you to fuck me, Eminence. I've been so good. I'll feel so nice. So tight. Let me make you feel like a fucking school boy aga–" Her pleading was cut short as the tip of his cock slid inside her.

She shuddered at the sensation of him stretching her. The ache she had felt the night before was nearly gone. He allowed her to sink onto him at her own pace. One of his hands caressed her throat while his other arm cradled her beneath her breasts.

Copia grew impatient with her agonizing pace and he pulled her fully down onto his length. Lucia reached back for him desperately, wanting something to touch. The hand at her throat shifted down, petting heavily as it went. She grasped at his sleeve, the only part of him she could get at.

His pace was slow to start, savoring the grip she had on him. He thrusted up into her, every inch increased the pressure around him.

"My fresh, beautiful girl… Let me defile you with deepest sin… Let me fuck away any innocence that stains you…" Copia ground the palm of his hand against her clit. "Give all of it to me."

Her back arched sharply and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yes, Cardinal! Take it from me!" She cried. Her head began to feel light as she gasped madly in ecstasy. "I'll give you everything."

Husky, open-mouthed kisses pressed against the right side of Lucia's cheek and jaw. Copia hammered into her with abandon. His pace turned frantic. His slick hand took hold of her hip.

"Touch yourself now, I just need to hold onto you," he instructed.

She moved her head forward enough to see the mirror. Copia was flushed and straining, sweat pricked on his brow and his hair was disheveled. He looked feral, monstrous and beautiful.

Lucia felt radiant with him buried inside of her and she could not imagine a more satisfying reflection. Her Cardinal was close, whispering the most deviant phrases. 

She moved her fingers as fast as she could on her clit. The concentration of pleasure built wildly. She felt an orgasm coming, but the pleasure seemed to hit a plateau. 

Copia's weight shifted and he pushed her forward onto her hands. Desperate for orgasm, she balanced on one hand and commenced violently touching herself. She saw him baring his teeth, hovering above her shoulder.

"Do it!" She moaned.

He rested his teeth on her skin and bit down. She felt it, one more shove and she would fucking cum. Copia released her for a moment, only long enough to growl a single word.

"Mine." 

His teeth sunk in again and she came. A halting cry sounded from Lucia as pleasure burst and contracted deep inside of her. She kept her eyes on Copia in the mirror and noticed a silvery glint reflecting outside the curtain.

Copia trembled as he bucked his release into her. Shameless moans and growls escaped him as his cock emptied in Lucia's pussy. 

On his final, spent thrust Lucia realized the silvery glint was the mask of an abbey ghoul standing directly on the other side of the sheer black curtain. She gasped in surprise, but Copia mistook it for a gasp of pleasure.

"You took it so well, my sweet girl," Copia praised while resting his damp forehead on her shoulder. 

"A ghoul," she rasped and looked back directly at the creature.

Copia swiveled immediately and slipped out of her. The ghoul was motionless, waiting to be acknowledged. Copia pulled back the curtain.

"What are you doing?" He asked with only the slightest hint of annoyance.

"Watching," the ghoul replied. Copia glanced down at the prominent erection in the ghoul's trousers.

Copia raised an eyebrow.

"Hoping," the ghoul added and stroked a strong hand down the front of Copia's suit.

"For what?" Copia asked and snatched the hand away.

"To be of service to you and this lovely sister, Eminence," the ghoul replied. 

He was trying to join them, which was the point of the event, but Lucia was conflicted. Copia grinned back at her deviously then turned toward the ghoul.

"What service would you provide?" Copia wondered. He crossed his arms imperiously, and all the while his spent cock was exposed.

The ghoul's head tilted toward Lucia.

"First I would kneel where I stand and clean this sister's pussy with my tongue. Until she's glistening and ready to be filled again. If she enjoys herself, I would like to join you," the ghoul proposed.

The ghoul's words had made her throb and the idea of cumming again was certainly welcome. Then she remembered Alpha taking a bite of an apple earlier that day. She recalled his fangs and the terror that welled in her when he revealed them.

"Sister Lucia, would you like that?" Copia asked.

Lucia leaned forward, folded into Copia's side and then whispered into his ear.

"Oh, yes."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Copia and Lucia enjoy their new plaything.

Copia nodded at the ghoul, accepting his proposal.

"Do what thou wilt," he instructed and laid back to rest upon several plush velvet cushions. He gently guided Lucia back beside him and slid a hand between her knees. She responded to the soft press of his fingers and opened her legs up to the ghoul before them.

The ghoul knelt gracefully in front of the daybed and held his arms behind his back. He tilted his head in a gesture like a bow and Lucia gave him a similar nod. Without another word or change in expression he leaned forward and curled a skillful tongue into her dripping slit. She gripped handfuls of sheets and tried to keep her hips still. He delved deep, stroking her sensitive flesh and she bucked at the thought of her Cardinal's cum covering his tongue.

Copia hooked his leg lightly over her left knee to keep her legs parted wide. He turned to her and slid a hand low on her abdomen. His lips found her temple and he began a wave of filthy growling.

"Do you wonder how fucking good we taste together?" He asked and a moan vibrated into her sex from the ghoul's throat. She tried to vault up again, but Copia's hand held her firmly down. Her eyes clamped shut and a sound between a whimper and panting escaped her.

Cool metal brushed her skin every few moments and a little shock would travel up her spine.

"Delicious sister, you are so quiet. Does he please you?" Copia wondered. His free arm slipped beneath her shoulders and gathered her to his chest.

Lucia nodded. She was anxious of drawing attention to herself by moaning like a woman possessed and so she tried to focus on the sheets in her hands. The creature between her legs continued to worship her cunt. If anything he seemed to worked downwards, which had her shuddering in pleasure.

"Here…" Copia loosened her grip from the sheet and took up her hand. He tapped her upper arm on the opposite side. "That one too."

She released the sheet and clutched his other hand.

"Now... open your mouth," he ordered. As her bottom lip fell open he swept down for a kiss. His tongue skimmed her lips before slipping into her mouth and a moan poured out of her.

She nearly screamed into Copia's mouth when the ghoul abruptly sucked her clit between his lips. Her chin fell towards her chest and she cursed.

"Oh, fuck me…" she whispered and squirmed at the tongue lapping against her. "You're so fucking good," she added. It was meant for the ghoul, but it had been so softly spoken she doubted he heard it.

"Tell him again so he can hear you," Copia ordered.

"You're so good, you feel so good!" She cried out and turned her face into Copia's shoulder.

The ghoul's mask rested against her inner thigh and he planted a kiss there.

"May I touch you, use my hands, sister?" He begged up at her in a in a soft and slightly nasal voice and then his tongue darted out to slick over her thigh. He sucked lightly on the skin and let it go with a soft popping sound.

She nodded and suddenly lithe fingers were curling under her knees, massaging her inner thighs and pulling her tight against his mouth. His tongue continued to work around her clit, and it seemed his hands could caress everywhere at one.

Her soft moans that had been stifled by Copia's coat began to grow louder and he spurred her on.

"Show him how well he does, don't be afraid to moan for him. Let him hear the sexy little sounds my sweet girl makes," he rumbled against the shell of her ear.

It brought her so close, his words and the tongue-fucking from the ghoul. She gasped and threw her head back.

"Fuck, I wanna cum…" she whined. Her hips bucked up against the ghoul's mouth and he groaned again. The fingers on his right hand spread her open to him and the next flick of his tongue had her on the edge.

"Make me cum," she whimpered. In the next moment he sucked hard at her clit and placed a moist finger firmly against her ass. She jolted as it slid inside and then she was cumming harder than she ever had before. She was screaming as her muscles clenched and felt his finger fucking into her tight hole. Her back arched from the bed and Copia's hold was the only thing that kept her grounded.

When she settled and her breathing stabilized, the ghoul slowly removed his finger. A slight sting followed.

"What do you think? Has he pleased you? Is he impressive enough to join us?" Copia asked, knowing full well what her answer would be.

"Oh yes, I think so," Lucia replied. She rolled to the side to make room for their newest plaything.

Copia shifted and patted the place they had made. The ghoul turned and threw himself backwards, landing on his ass with a slight bounce and then crossing his feet. He gazed hungrily toward Lucia.

"Sister Lucia is still learning and this is her first participated night of debauchery. You must let her come to you," Copia explained to the ghoul. "Lucia, do you see how hard pleasing you has made him?"

Lucia clearly saw his cock straining in his trousers.

"Yes, Cardinal," she answered and licked her lips.

"What do you think, darling?" Copia asked as he ran a hand down the ghoul's thigh. "He has worked so hard, perhaps it is your turn to put in some effort."

Lucia followed Copia's lead and stroked the ghoul's thigh. The cheeky thing made his cock twitch and she laughed. She unfastened his trousers with her other hand and continued to move her hands on his thighs.

The ghoul licked upward at Copia and they shared a disheveled kiss. Copia sucked at his tongue, savouring Lucia's familiar sweetness.

Without assistance, the ghoul's cock had freed itself and begged for attention. Lucia ignored it and massaged his inner thighs. She caressed the skin around his base and he inhaled and exhaled in frustration.

"You're being very good," Copia praised the ghoul. "Let her play."

Her fist closed around him and he sighed. His eyes were shut and his bottom lip was between his teeth when she looked at him. She moved her hand slowly a few times while staring Copia directly in the eyes.

"Poor thing," she pouted in a sultry voice. "All these rules from our Cardinal. I'm sure you just want to push me into the mattress and fuck me as rough as you can."

The ghoul jerked up in her hand, just needing more. The Cardinal's breathing grew heavy. Lucia leaned closer to the ghoul's cock and let him feel her breath on him. He jerked again, silently begging for more contact. She obliged him and took as much of him as she could into her mouth. Her mouth watered and left him slick when she pulled away.

She stared into Copia's eyes and stroked her tongue languidly over the ghoul's cockhead. More saliva coated him, but she seemed interested in only teasing them both. Her hand jerked him at a slow, steady pace.

"I've never held a cock this hard. You must want me so fucking bad," Lucia taunted him.

He nodded. "Yes, sister, I do."

"Good boy," she whispered and took him in her mouth. At first she hollowed her cheeks and sucked him deep into the back of her throat, but soon the movement of his hips had him fucking her mouth nearly on his own. At one particularly deep thrust, a hand held her head in place and she choked. When it released her she saw it had been Copia's.

"I want you to ride him," Copia instructed. His voice was dark and he was stroking his half-hard erection. "Use him, Lucia."

She gazed at him from behind a curtain of golden hair that had fallen in her face and nodded. She straddled the waiting ghoul and gently settled on his cock. It was the ghoul's turn to grab the sheets at the intense friction and warmth of her tight little cunt. He then gripped her waist and slammed upward into her. Lucia rocked against him in time on the balls of her feet. As she leaned further back, she felt him strike deeper and a cry of pleasure escaped with each thrust.

Her hand planted behind her and between his legs. Her hips circled fast, roving furiously up and down his pulsing cock. She shared a heated look with Copia as the ghoul groaned. His grasp tightened, halting Lucia's movement, but his bucking turned fierce and erratic. He stilled as he finished and covered his mask with his hands. Lucia ran her palms over his chest and ground into him one more time.

The ghoul laughed and grabbed her hips again.

"No, no, please," he chuckled uncomfortably.

Lucia climbed off of him and smiled mischievously at Copia as she retreated back to her side of the bed.

"Emeritus was right about you. You are a sorceress." Copia grinned. His hand traveled absently over his now erect member. He watched the ghoul’s release spilling out of her and streaking across her inner thighs. She panted and labored to calm the frantic beating of her heart. 

“Even little witches must rest,” Copia told her as he reached over to stroke her knee. His hand trailed back and eventually fisted in the ghoul's jacket. "Would you be so kind as to entertain your Cardinal?"

The ghoul smiled wide and a wicked tongue slid between his teeth as he nodded.

"Yes, Unholy Eminence," he growled.

Copia rose up on his knees and surveyed the beautiful creatures before him. His mind was bestial and clouded with lust when he began assaulting the ghoul with orders.

"Turn over. Get on your knees." The ghoul obeyed. "Hands on either side of Sister Lucia's head. Legs between hers." The ghoul forced her beneath him and did as he was told.

Lucia revelled in her Cardinal's authoritative tone and the power he exercised over the ghoul. The ghoul stroked her face with his thumb and she saw a small smirk sneak across his face. Copia hands stole around the ghoul's waist, unclipped his braces and wrenched his trousers down to pool at his knees.

The ghoul reached for his cock, but Copia wrenched his hand away and planted it back beside Lucia's head. A sharp crack rang out as Copia slapped the ghoul's ass, it was playful but not too soft.

It elicited a soft breathy moan from the ghoul.

"So fucking naughty already," Copia chastised. "Obey your Cardinal like a good boy. Be still."

Copia reached back to a bedside table and took up a vial of lube. While he was occupied the ghoul stared down at Lucia and dipped down to steal a kiss on her cheek. His eyes were bright with mischief and something about them seemed strange.

His eyes slid closed and his mouth fell open as Copia rimmed his hole with a finger, slicking and preparing him for a fucking. When the finger slipped in the ghoul's eyes clenched shut tighter and a ragged breath shuddered out of him.

Lucia felt a pulsing in her core and attempted to grind herself against the ghoul's thigh with little success. A tight hand grasped her thigh and she heard Copia _tsk_ in displeasure. She stopped immediately.

Another digit pressed into the ghoul and a short grunting moan left him. He started to rock back against the Cardinal's fingers.

"Still!" Copia ordered and swiftly slapped the ghoul's ass again. He pumped his fingers in deep, reaching for the sensitive place that would leave the ghoul begging like a whore. When he found it the ghoul began giving off a series of muffled grunts.

"Mmm… fuck yes… mmmph… uh… uh…" The ghoul rambled nonsensically in his pleasure. His arms shook on either side of Lucia's head and his chest and head slowly dipped lower toward her. Copia leaned to the side to see her getting off on what he was doing to the ghoul and he offered a wink.

Copia removed his fingers with great care and coated his own cock in lube before stroking it across the ghoul's tight hole. The ghoul gasped, preparing himself. Copia teased him, dragging his tip down across the ghoul's taint and back up again. A shift in the ghoul's hips told him how much he wanted to feel his cock slide inside him. Copia held the ghoul's left hip steady in one hand and guided his stiff cock into his ass with the other.

A whine of pleasure immediately left the ghoul's lips and he bowed downward on his elbows. He nuzzled against Lucia, who embraced him and stroked his back. Lucia looked up at Copia, ready for reprimand, but his eyes were screwed shut as he slid deeper into the ghoul. Lazily, he pushed himself into the slick warm grip of muscles and felt the relaxing and clenching of the ghoul adjusting to him.

"So fucking tight for such a little cock whore," Copia praised him. He pulled the ghoul's hips back gradually and gave his own growl at the tight heat.

"Yes, Eminence…" the ghoul mumbled next to Lucia's ear.

The Cardinal shuddered when he had finally buried himself in the eager ghoul before him. He began to fuck him, barely moving his hips, he offered quick deep thrusts.

The ghoul whimpered and grasped at Lucia.

"Aww… too deep, Eminence. Slower…" he cried. His small grunts began again and he laced one of his hands with Lucia's.

Copia paused and then nearly removed himself. He roughly slammed his cock back into the ghoul, who bellowed into the bed in pleasure-pain. Merciless strokes hammered into him deep and fast. A low whine that hitched with every thrust emitted from the ghoul until he sobbed to catch his breath.

"You will take what you're given!" Copia rasped. "And you'll fucking love every inch of it, won't you?" He asked darkly.

When the ghoul desperately nodded into the bed, the horns on his mask shredded the sheets. Copia struck his ass hard enough to leave a print.

"Won't you!" He shouted again.

"Yes, Eminence!" The ghoul sobbed. "Yes! Ohhh, fuck…"

"You're doing so well," Lucia whispered into the ghoul's ear.

"Lucia!" Copia called. "Stop whispering sweet nothings and stroke him for me." He gripped the ghoul's shoulders and offered swift deep thrusts where he would linger inside to savor the sensation.

Lucia did as she was told and found the ghoul's cock half-hard. She touched herself as she stroked him and the ghoul's cries turned back into moans. The ghoul shamelessly began to fuck himself back onto Copia's cock. He rose up on his elbows and his mouth hung open, pouring out grunts and moans. His delicious sounds came faster and his breath hitched.

"Stop, Lucia," the Cardinal instructed firmly. She did as she was told and the ghoul whined in agony. "You'll finish when your Cardinal allows it," he growled at the ghoul.

Copia closed his eyes and fucked wildly. He focused on the slick heat and sounds of damp skin slapping skin. The obscene and pathetic moans of the ghoul had his stomach tightening.

"So beautiful," Copia heard Lucia whisper and he knew he wouldn't be able to hold on.

Copia reached around to squeeze the ghoul's cock hard before pumping him in time with the rough strokes of his cock. He wanted the spasms of the ghoul's orgasm to pulse around him and bring out his own. It was not long before the ghoul was crying out in a maddening groan as he came hard and his thick ropes of warm cum spurted over Lucia's chest.

The muscles inside him clenched uncontrollably around Copia's cock and in only a few moments the Cardinal was grunting as he fucked his release as deep into the ghoul's ass as it would go. He removed himself and sighed at the sight of his cum seeping from the ghoul's tight hole.

After taking a few deep breaths and allowing his mind a moment of recovery, Copia took in the scene before him.

Lucia was pinned beneath the exhausted ghoul, staring up at him and the ghoul's ass was still high in the air. He gently rubbed the ghoul's backside.

"Well done, are you alright, darling?" He asked the ghoul.

He received a small nod and a thumbs up.

"Lucia?"

She nodded and rubbed the ghoul's back in small circles.

"I will go now and bring us back some wine. We might open the curtains and survey the rest of the revelry, yes?" He posed the question and received two more lazy nods from his bedfellows.

When Copia had gone, Lucia pulled the sheer curtain back to scan the room. Every depravity she had ever imagined was on display, but she searched for one attendee in particular.

"I don't see his Unholiness," she said, worry apparent in her tone. She pressed the ghoul's shoulders and he sat up and straddled her thighs. "He would not want to miss this, I should go look for him."

The ghoul cupped her face in one hand and brushed his thumb over her lips.

"I was supposed to attend him…" The lip under the ghoul's finger trembled. The ghoul bent down to her and claimed a soft kiss.

"Such earnest concern for your Papa," the ghoul purred. "Do not fear, he is with you always," he continued in an altered and familiar voice. He lifted the mask for a moment and she saw that it was indeed Emeritus III sitting astride her legs.

Lucia's eyes widened, but before she could say a word, Emeritus had placed his finger to her lips.

"It is welcome to feel anonymous in a crowd. No one grovels or treats you differently. Your Cardinal certainly was not concerned with how well I will be able to walk tomorrow." Emeritus laughed. "I find my partners much more honest when I conceal myself. The pleasure is there, of course, but their responses can seem so… practiced. You came undone so prettily for me, no rehearsal required."

"Unholiness, I–" Lucia was cut off again as Emeritus pressed his finger more firmly to her lips.

"None of that, I don't want to draw attention. The event seems to be flourishing without me. And we mustn't tell the Cardinal. Can you imagine the color he would turn if he knew it me he was barking orders to? The awkward creature would go into a dead faint." Emeritus chuckled at his joke, but Lucia saw the truth in it. He would be mortified.

"It was a wicked game to play," Lucia whispered.

"Wasn't it?" Emeritus grinned and shone with pride. "Wickedness is one of my favorite pastimes." He drew a hand down Lucia's side and then back up to cup her breast. "And our Dark Lord assures me that there is much wickedness ahead for us." His thumb brushed her nipple and she inhaled sharply.

Lucia laboured up and supported herself on her elbows.

"Lucifer has spoken of me?" She asked, eager to hear more about the meaning of her dreams.

"Oh yes, and shall I tell you what He has unveiled to me?" Emeritus teased.

"Yes, please. I need to know," Lucia replied.

Emeritus pressed a kiss to her cheek and then another on the shell of her ear.

"Then tell the Cardinal you feel overwhelmed and ask me to escort you to your room. We must be alone," her superior instructed.

Lucia searched his eyes and found them difficult to read with the strange lenses he was wearing. She did not entirely trust him, but she worried what trouble her refusal would bring. After a few moments passed she agreed.

"Yes, I'll do as you ask."

A grin of success spread across his face. “Good – your Cardinal approaches.” He slid off of her and took her hand in his, petting it gently. She played her part by sitting up and resting her head on his shoulder.

Copia appeared a moment later, delicately balancing three glasses of red wine in his gloved hands. Emeritus lifted one out of his grasp and took a markedly unsophisticated swig. The Cardinal shot a shrewd look at the “ghoul” before presenting a glass to Lucia.

She feigned panic and fanned herself even though she was still naked.

“I don’t think I could… I’m feeling strange,” she explained with a shaky inhale.

Copia withdrew the glass and set them both aside.

“You’re tired–” he soothed and brushed a lock of hair from her face.

“Overtired! And a little overwhelmed by the party...” She insisted.

Emeritus glanced at her from the corner of his eye and said in his “ghoul” voice, "She looks peaky, Eminence."

“Forgive me, I want to stay with you but… I don’t want to ruin your night. I think I should head to my room,” she suggested and held her cheeks in her hands. It gutted her to lie to him, but if it was the only way to get the information out of the Anti-Pope then she would do it. She would tell him it had been Papa once he headed back to Rome. The truth would need to wait.

“I’ll take you,” Copia responded and removed his jacket. He draped it over her shoulders in place of the dress he had destroyed.

Lucia shook her head. “Mother Perfidia will not be pleased if you leave her to oversee this event on her own. If she witnesses us walking out together, I’ll catch the blame come morning. This ghoul can escort me to make sure I don’t faint or have a dizzy spell on the stairs. I’m sure it’s just my nerves,” she tried to sound pathetic and was sure she had at least succeeded in that.

For a few seconds, it seemed Copia would protest, but after pursing his lips he raised his hands in acquiescence.

"I will stay if you insist, but you must promise to rest. Satan helps sinners who help themselves and so on." He placed a kiss on her forehead and nodded curtly to the ghoul.

Emeritus helped her up and she pulled Copia's coat closed in the front. Emeritus guided her from the room and as she looked back at Copia he wore an expression of melancholy resignation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed yourself! Additionally, you look wonderful today, dear reader.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papa reveals his plans.

When they exited the room and took the corridor to the left, Lucia tried to direct him.

"We'll take a right up ahead and go up a flight," she began.

"We will go to the rectory. My ghouls tell me you are kept in a veritable cell and that won't do. I will spoil you while it is within my power to do so." He urged her down a few flights of stairs and soon they were outside. He held her hand tightly and pulled her along eagerly.

Emeritus threw open the door to the rectory and his ghoul's started at the sight of Copia's ghoul dragging a young woman behind him. He dashed off the mask and it fell with a heavy clang to the floor. The horns gouged fissures into the fine herringbone wood. The ghouls stood down when they saw it was their master.

"Don’t disturb us!” He called over his shoulder at them as he continued to pull Lucia with him. When they entered his rooms, he secured the door and released her. He slammed the antique dressing screen closed against the wall in search of hidden ghouls and briefly checked the bathroom. “I suspect Imperator has corrupted some of my ghouls with false promises of elevating their station,” he whispered.

His hands rested on Lucia’s shoulders when he took a moment to relax. 

“Have a rinse, you seem uncomfortable. You’re sweaty and covered in… well. I will wait for you,” he assured her. He went to the bedside table for his cigarette case and Lucia fled into the bathroom.

She removed Copia’s coat and her shoes and climbed into the shower. Then she listened for sounds in the other room. A lighter flicked open and he huffed a sigh, but he stayed in the bedroom. She turned on the water and scrubbed herself as best she could with her hands. During their walk earlier that day, she had been worried for him, but to be locked away in rooms alone with him… she had started to worry for herself.

Flashes of the shower scene from Psycho echoed in her head as she washed shampoo from her eyes.

Emeritus was staring at her from a gap in the curtain when she opened her eyes. Whatever power that had stopped her from screaming bloody murder she thanked endlessly. He drew his eyes over her form.

“I thought you might need this.” He handed her a black washcloth. “Cold water for cum, by the way.” Then his face disappeared.

She laughed a little to herself and followed his advice. The gesture had eased her mind slightly, but she heard what sounded like he was arguing with himself. When she turned off the shower she peeked out and saw that he was on his mobile. He was speaking angrily in Italian about his absence from the homechurch in Rome. He gestured with his hand and took a drag off his cigarette everytime the other party spoke.

“I’m here to support the church!” He hissed. “Everything I fucking do is for this church! When I have secured my intentions, I will return.” He paused to listen.

Lucia toweled off and dressed herself in Copia’s coat once more. His scent enveloped her and she felt calm for a few seconds. She entered the bedroom to find Emeritus pacing and he mouthed “one moment” to her.

“Preparations for the upcoming ritual will be waiting for me when I return! If you were listening to me, you would understand that my business here is for the damned ritual,” Emeritus sneered at the person on the other end.

Lucia stood awkwardly with her hands clasped behind her back as the other party responded.

“I will decide the hierarchy of what is important to my church, old man. Don’t fret. It won’t be much longer and Imperator will be back to dote on you.” He ended the call before he could hear a response. He flicked the mobile onto a desk beside him. “Every move I make is questioned…” he bemoaned and wiped his hands over his bare face.

“I can’t imagine the responsibility of supporting the entire church,” Lucia tried to console him.

“Of course you would speak Italian.” 

He sat heavily in a paisley, clawfoot wing chair and motioned to the edge of the bed.

Lucia sat with her back straight and prepared for whatever he was going to tell her.

After a few false starts it seemed he chose a place to begin.

“If I had not been born to my position I have often wondered if I would have discovered our Dark Lord on my own. Each time I ask myself this I realize that the answer is yes, but it is He who would find me. He would always know my heart. I cannot imagine a life without Him simply because I know there isn’t one. In endless parallel worlds, He would reach out and open His arms to me. I know this.” His eyes grew glassy as he spoke and stared at the wall across the room.

“Do you feel that? Do you feel Him that way?” He wondered, finally looking at her. His eyes were half-lidded in thought and suddenly he looked oddly old.

It was a deeper question than she had expected and she fumbled to find an answer.

“I have felt that way… but I have also felt uncertain of my own worthiness to be embraced by Him. The dreams He put in my head confused me– they still confuse me. I thought He was angry with me because He showed me such horrible visions so often. You’ve given me hope, Unholiness– that there is something more to them.”

“We were locked in separate pieces of the same dream, but now the Dark Architect shows his plans. He wanted me to find you," Emeritus told her. “A sister who was raised and made strong in the faith. You have intelligence and diplomacy that perhaps I do not. Worthy assets to our church.” He cleared his throat. “Worthy assets to me.”

The intent behind his words crept into Lucia’s mind and suddenly it felt as though a heavy weight had been placed on her chest. He saw her realization and unguarded panic forming. Carefully, he moved from the chair and knelt before her.

“You would like to transfer my novitiate training to the homechurch, Unholiness?” She asked quietly.

His brows furrowed and he covered her hands with his. “Training? No. No more training. I want to elevate you. You would be my right hand–”

“Like Sister Imperator is to your father?” She wondered.

“No, you would not be some viper who lurks behind me. You will have a title, something fitting and carrying all of the reverence of a Cardinal. Your ascension would be announced at the upcoming ritual. You will come with me to Rome and breathe much-needed life into our church,” He revealed his plans and Lucia felt her stomach sink.

“I’ve just left the academy, I’m barely a clergy member at all, Unholiness,” she protested.

“Much like your Cardinal has eyes in Rome, my reach extends to your abbey. Top of your class, beloved by your peers and the clergy. After dinner I was able to get a straight answer from my mother. She says you are a true prodigy of the faith.”

Lucia trembled. “I… Your mother is the reason for my successes. I can't leave her. And the Cardinal, he is equally responsible for everything I have learned. My aspirations are not so high, I only want to spread Lucifer’s light in my own way.” She held an image of Copia in her mind and could not fathom parting from him.

“Let this be your way. My mother and the Cardinal have played their parts in our Dark Lord’s plan. Their work is complete. Consider how magnificent it would be. So much power. Your own rooms, your own ghouls to wait on you. You would have everything you’ve ever desired. You don’t need to answer now, I will give you a day to consider.” Emeritus saw how shaken she was by his offer. He had expected a far more positive reaction to such a generous proposal.

“Lucifer told you this is his will?” She whispered.

“Do you doubt me?” He responded somewhat harshly.

She hesitated for a moment as she considered the barefaced man before her. He seemed far less like Papa without his skull paint. Eventually she shook her head.

Emeritus rubbed his jaw. “You would doubt me like this.” He reached toward the desk behind him and found his jars of greasepaint and two brushes. He placed them in Lucia’s open hands. “Make me your Papa. Trust me as I trust you. Satan has asked me to put my faith in you and I will.”

With shaking hands she set the jars on the bed and took up white greasepaint on a brush. As she moved to apply it he gazed directly into her eyes with a raw and pleading look. He had been inside of her an hour before and somehow this strange act was impossibly more intimate. The brush touched his skin and his eyelids fell closed.

The application was slow and careful, she did not want to make any mistakes. When she applied the first stroke of black greasepaint, she held her breath. She was delicate around his eyes and used a light touch near his mouth. The finished skull paint was clearly his own, but it was not quite as precise as a ghoul’s usual application.

His eyes opened on her when she set the paint and brushes down. His gaze was sharp and full of fire. Lucia swallowed.

“Who do you see before you?” He asked her as he rose to his feet. He seemed to tower above her and she did her best not to shrink away. “Do you see Marcelo Emeritus or do you see your Papa?”

“Papa…” she breathed. 

He fisted a hand in her hair just tightly enough to sting.

“Good… Would your Papa ever lie to you about the word of Our Unholy Lord Satan?” He growled.

“No.” The word was so soft it was hardly uttered.

“No…?” He made a go on motion with his free hand.

“No, Papa,” she corrected herself.

He released her hair and patted her head.

“Good, good… I think for a moment you had forgotten who was making this request of you. The gravity of it. I tried to put you at ease, but what I ask of you would not be easy. You can of course refuse, though I wonder if it would reflect poorly on the abbey. It would leave a bad taste in your Papa’s mouth. As it stands, your position could not be lower, and your Cardinal might be beloved, but he will always answer to me.” He stroked her chin with a finger. “Still, take the time to consider your answer.”

She felt him backing her into a corner. A threat against Copia, no matter how small, had her attention.

“Am I not generous?” He asked with a theatrical wave of his arm.

Lucia nodded mechanically.

“Tell me– tell your Papa that he is generous,” he ordered. Emeritus gripped her throat with both hands, but did not squeeze.

“Yes, Papa. You are very generous, Papa,” she whimpered and grasped at his hands.

“I wouldn’t hurt you, sweet sister…” he rasped as he brought his face close to her cheek. “But I would remind you of your current place in the church.” His fingers found the buttons on Copia’s coat and he slowly unfastened them. "Beneath me."

"You must be exhausted, Unholiness," she countered and attempted to stay his hands.

"I'm insatiable and I can sense that you are the same," he said smoothly. He succeeded with the coat and his hands snuck in about her waist. "Now that you've had a taste of it, you'll always want more. And no one will ever give it to you better than your Papa."

Lucia was silent as he pressed her to lie flat on her back. A familiar flurry of excitement coursed through her. 

"What are you?" He asked.

"A sinner...?" She answered, not sure what he expected.

He gave a dry chuckle.

"You want to make your Papa happy, don't you? Because you are a good little sinner."

Her voice shook, but she answered him.

'Yes, Papa."

He grasped her hips and turned her forcefully over onto her stomach. She felt him lift her hips and slide a pillow under, keeping her ass somewhat aloft.

"Are you ready for your lesson?" He growled and massaged her pale flesh.

She knew what he would do and nodded.

"Yes, Papa."

The first clap of his hand was subdued, more of a pat and she stayed still. She could see a sliver of their reflection in the dark bathroom mirror. The second spank came down harder and rang out. Lucia gave a cry, but kept mostly quiet. A light stinging radiated and before she could quite recover, he repeated a strike of the same force on the same cheek.

She gasped at the slap and began to writhe, crawling forward. He snatched her calf and pulled her backward. He held her ankles between his thighs to keep her in place.

"Naughty girl, your Papa wants you right here. I plan to be only a little wicked, but if you can't control yourself I might have to start biting your tight little ass." She calmed at his jovial threat.

His open palm came down upon her tender flesh again and again. She felt the stinging, but also jolts of pleasure. Between strikes the middle and index fingers on his free hand slid easily into her heat. The sudden sensation had her gasping.

"Wet from your spanking? You're a soaking mess, aren't you?" He taunted and fucked his fingers in and out of her.

"Yes, Papa…" she whispered and tensed for the next blow.

It never came and Papa's fingers disappeared before she felt his weight settle on the bed.

"Come to Papa," he purred. A gentle hand stroked her back. "Your lesson is over. Let me take care of you."

She gingerly crawled over his lap and when he delicately stroked his fingers over her sensitive ass she whimpered. Tiny jolts of pleasure and pain emanated from the small touches. She could feel him hard against her stomach.

"Beautiful sister, tell me how you feel?" He asked.

"Blessed that my Papa would take time to reaffirm me of my station," she breathed. Her voice trembled in anticipation.

"Will I need to remind you again?" He sighed.

Her head shook immediately.

"No, Papa. You won't, Papa."

"I didn't think so. You are a smart girl. A good girl. I wasn't too hard on you?" He asked.

"No, not at all." She kissed his thigh. "I understand you perfectly."

Emeritus' right hand massaged her slightly reddened bottom and worked slowly toward her sex. When the pads of his fingers began to circle her slit she relaxed completely over him. They slipped inside her and lazily pumped in and out.

"Your Papa wants you by his side," he moaned softly. "Wouldn't it be simple to give me what I want?"

Lucia fought her baser instinct to agree with everything he said.

"Unholiness, you promised me a day to decide," she huffed while moving her hips to meet his fingers. "I will consider your proposal more thoughtfully tomorrow."

His digits withdrew and in a quick movement she was facedown with her Papa straddling her waist.

"Think of the power you might possess," he reasoned darkly. He shifted and she heard him working his trousers open. Bare skin smoothed over bare skin. "Satan binds us to one another. He has such diabolical intentions for our future together."

The head of his cock slid over the cleft of her ass and lowered to press against her slick opening.

"Show me," Lucia breathed.

Her thighs were pressed together, which only made her entrance tighter. Emeritus groaned in pleasure as his cock pushed inside and he saw her shoulder blades rise and tense.

She moaned and his hand clamped firmly over her mouth.

"Under my leadership, our church will rise. I will be more powerful than my brothers. More powerful than my father." He thrusted roughly into her as he made his declarations. "Our Dark Lord has assured me that I will reign over the greatest legacy the Emeritus family has ever known."

His hand slipped from her mouth to her throat.

"Careful, Unholiness," she pleaded. He did not tighten his grip, but his agitation was clear. If it weren't for every nerve inside her body begging for more of him, her apprehension would have won out.

"Of course." To her surprise he slowed. His free hand traced under her shoulder blades. She felt him shudder with pleasure as he sunk deep into her. "He made you for me — a companion. My very own Lilith."

He bent over her and she felt his jaw move against the side of her head as he spoke quietly.

"I shall name you Mama…"

Lucia grew rigid and swallowed.

"A prime mover?..." She asked absently. It meant that one day she might run an abbey, but only after years of bedridden broodmaring.

He gave a light laugh.

"No, you see how well prime movers served my brothers. I will succeed where they failed. You will rule at my side… as Mama Emerita." Revealing his plan seemed to invigorate him and he clutched her close. His strokes returned to a rough pace that she haphazardly attempted to meet.

 _Mama Emerita, he couldn't possibly mean_ —

A well placed thrust had her moaning. She gripped the hand at her throat.

"I don't understand, Papa."

Even as his movements turned careless when he neared his peak, his speech was clear. "Satan has chosen a queen for my kingdom and our progeny will be most profane.Together we will bring forth his divine, Unholy child."

Lucia panicked at his words and tried to press herself up on her hands. Papa shifted to hold her wrists down on either side of her head.

"Come with me, please…" he chanted feverishly into the crook of her neck. "Please, please come with me…"

She heard him groan and fall still. After a few seconds of silence, he slid out and sat back. His breathing was heavy, but he didn't move or speak. The weight of him on her thighs grew uncomfortable.

"Unholiness, can you—"

He moved to the side before she could finish her thought. Lucia rolled to face him.

"Imperator and my father intend to unseat me before long. You and this… child of prophecy are my only hope. Satan wills it, I swear on my dark papacy, Sister Lucia. This isn't a ploy or for my amusement."

"Papa… I don't know what to say. If I expected anything, it wasn't this." She huddled back against the headboard and hugged a pillow to her chest. "I can't fathom what you're asking."

He stroked the inside of her ankle with his thumb.

"A few nights ago, in the dream where I saw the Cardinal—who lead me here, our Dark Father told me that I would lie with you. Last night, He appeared again to tell me of the child you will bear. His child… my child," Papa explained. "As Mama Emerita, you would be second only to me in the church. I offer you an unparalleled honor."

"It's too much, Papa. Such a change could be a catastrophic upset to others in the church. Satan may will it, but you do not know me — what if you realize you despise me? You would willingly give a near stranger so much power?" She attempted to reason with him further, but saw a chiding look in his eyes.

He prowled toward her on all fours and caressed her face tenderly with the back of his hand.

"It's a leap of faith I will make readily. I ask you to make it with me."

Lucia closed her eyes and saw Copia's face. She imagined his expression if she were to tell him she was leaving him and their abbey behind. _I can't leave him_ , she thought. But how would Papa react if she refused him?

She took Papa's hand in hers and held it above her heart.

"Dearest and Most Unholy Papa… I beg you, and I will beg you on my knees if you want me to, allow me more time to consider. It is an honor you offer, and a joy beyond anything I could imagine. I am conflicted because of my attachment to my abbey. This place is where I have spent the whole of my life and my family is here."

Lucia rose up and kissed him unbidden.

"I know that you are full of Lucifer's compassion and a font of his warmth, Unholiness. You have opened your heart to me and I will do the same. You are terrified to lose your papacy, and I am terrified to lose my home." She kissed him again. It was soft, an appeal to his gentler side.

He reclined beside her and pulled her back into his arms. A thoughtful hum passed his lips.

"When I return for the upcoming ritual, I will expect your decision," he said finally.

Lucia nestled back into him and brought his hand that was draped over her waist to her lips.

"Thank you, Pa—"

"Marcelo when we are like this," he interrupted and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you, Marcelo. I know your time is very precious."

He laughed and gave her a squeeze. "I can withstand the vipers a little longer on my own. But hopefully I won't be alone for long."

They briefly made it to the shower before returning to the bed. Lucia fell asleep in his arms with the thought of her church's future weighing heavily on her mind.

* * *

Her eyes opened on the strange altar she had seen many times in her dreams. Copia stood with his back to her and a half-obscured, unmoving body rested at his feet. She felt the divine presence of her Dark Lord directly behind her.

"My child will quicken within you," Satan's melodic and sonorous voice echoed in her head. "You will be the matriarch of the greatest legacy the Emeritus family has ever known. You will stand beside the most unholy of all Papas…"

The Cardinal before her in his brilliant red cassock turned and she saw that in his arms he cradled the decapitated head of Papa Emeritus III.

Once more Satan spoke, "The youngest son of Emeritus shall rise."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, taking time to give kudos, and for writing deliciously generous comments. I would like to individually thank those who have left comments and kudos. So, sincere thanks to Embee31, ljmaystrader, Missy, LGHarris, ArchangeloLucifer, Ghostjo, Zelda, AlphaEternity88, Phoenica, Sally, Gleamed, 8laise, She_is_ghuleh, NoBetaReaderJones, Kuromyou, come_unleashed, Kabiki_Kat, ASummerBreeze, billie33gd, foxxxly, haveadreamforbreakfast, nervousghoul, SirenDreams, darthmolz, Rattchet, Adisturbedghoulie, IsolatedPsycho, vampirecatprince, mooremooo, AbbyNormal1911, Lyn24, Meliedea, LibertinaGrimm, DrinkMe_YeetMe, PandoraNumari, hiah, Rowan_Morrison, silver_wing (almightydino), lorenes, DrollFace, Bloody_Vixen, moreicethanvanilla, Dragonsfire8780, GhulehC, theX, Asholeo, MissSpookySweet, RoomAndAFire iou, NovemberReine, CopiasGhuleh, and GhostFan77. Also, thank you for all of the kudos from guests. I can be found stalking Tumblr (Ratikait) if you'd like to drop me a line.


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